Pychic Readings
by Amillea Moravii
Summary: All Skulduggery wants to do is sit, relax, and ignore some emerging feelings, but out of nowhere a girl appears - sitting on top of the Bentley! Hold onto you hat, because soon after two more girls follow, and he's caught up in the madness of kidnappings, torture, psychics, and mass-murderers. T for language, mild sexual references, violence and insanity. P.S. - KOTW never happened
1. Car Sitting

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Car Sitting<strong>

"What the hell do you mean you can't think?" Valkyrie Cain asked, shocked. In all the years she'd known him, she had never known Skulduggery Pleasant to not have the answer to a question, or at least a silly quip in place of actual knowledge.

"I mean my brain isn't working right. I don't feel like thinking." Skulduggery sighed and lay back in his chair, exhausted from fighting with Valkyrie about their latest case practically all day.

"Skulduggery, you don't have a brain," Valkyrie noted, raising an eyebrow sceptically. "That means you have no reason to not have any idea about who's decided that it's a good idea to attempt to break into the Vault. There are things in there that aren't supposed to be messed with – you know that better than anybody!"

He decided not to answer her directly. He didn't want to talk about it. He was… distracted.

"_We_ broke into the Vault. _And_ you were twelve. _We_ had a reason. We need to find _another_ reason." He held up his gloved hand as she started to protest. "Not today, Valkyrie. Talk to me again tomorrow."

She grabbed his hand and he felt himself become more attuned to the world around him, or more specifically, the warmth of her hand radiating along his bones. If he'd had a heart, it would've sped up. Significantly.

"But–"

He cut her off. "I'm really not in the mood today, Valkyrie. Give it a rest for once."

He could tell he'd reached her. She jerked back with defiance in her eyes. "I'm nineteen, Skulduggery; I'm not a child anymore."

_No_, he thought_. You most definitely are not_. It was hard for him not to listen to her. Not only was he very aware of her physical being, standing so close, but she had captured his attention for the past few years in a way he'd thought impossible.

"You _will_ listen to me. Anyway, this wasn't about the case."

If he'd had eyebrows, they would've been near the ceiling. "Oh? Then what is this about then?"

"Someone is sitting on top of the Bentley."

"WHAT?" Skulduggery leapt from his seat, supposed exhaustion forgotten.

"I said–"

"I know what you said! Who the hell is it?"

"I don't kn–"

"Oi!" he shouted, running outside, tapping the symbols on his collarbone so he wouldn't have to pull on his hat and scarf. "What do you think you're doing?"

Even as he spoke, skin flowed up around the white bone and he was suddenly – seemingly – human. China had worked tirelessly over the facades she had given him and Ghastly, though for a good few months, it had taken all of his self-control not to pull out his gun and shoot.

A young woman – no, not even that, a girl – was sitting on top of the Bentley, her red-gold hair flicking up in the gentle breeze. The sunset set off the colouring, and it blazed with an unearthly light. Her pale skin, decorated with millions of freckles, contrasted amazingly against the plum coloured shirt she had on, the bell sleeves billowing gracefully, though her long pants were loose and shimmered as the breeze kicked up the folds and moved them around. Her feet were delicate, and noticeably bare.

The petite girl opened one eye the tiniest fraction, not moving the rest of her body. Her legs were crossed gracefully, and she had her elbows resting lightly on her knees, her hands up, forming an 'O' with her thumb and middle finger. The shocking clarity of her blue irises made Skulduggery look twice. She couldn't have been more than fifteen.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Her voice was sweet, but a bit _too_ sweet, like it'd been dropped in honey, rolled in sugar, and had lollies glued onto it.

Skulduggery's voice was deep and velvety in comparison. "What? Why are you sitting on my car?"

Her eyes closed again. "Why do you think I'm sitting on your car?"

"Why you smart-assed little–"

Valkyrie cut him off before he could say something he would regret. "Calm the hell–"

"_I will not calm down_!" he screamed.

"_Goddammit stop cutting me off_!" she screamed right back. Valkyrie took a deep breath. "Maybe you should be polite. Ask nicely, and maybe she'll tell you what's going on."

Her voice did this amazing thing to his temper, and he calmed down almost immediately.

"What is your name?" he asked quietly.

"My name is Carma," she answer him, her eyes still shut.

_What a strange name_, he thought.

She smiled a little. "Yes, it is strange. But it matches me. Is it any stranger than Skulduggery or Valkyrie?"

They both froze. "How do you know our names?" Valkyrie asked.

She just smiled.

"Well, Carma," Skulduggery said. "May I ask what you are doing sitting on my car?"

She still didn't look at him.

"I'm attempting to make a psychic connection to the Bentley."

There was a pause that stretched out for a good few beats. Then both her eyes opened and she looked at him full in the face.

"It's not working."

"I should think not," he said, almost laughing. Psychics? What was she thinking?

"I know you are thinking that you do not believe you know that I know you are thinking. I am thinking that you are now still not believing that I know you are thinking, and you are thinking that nothing I will ever say will convince you that I am psychic."

"What?"

"You heard me."

Without time for him to move, she had launched her entire body at him, tackled him to the ground, and he found her sitting on his chest.

"Ahh," she said. "Much better. I'm getting… that you think I'm nuts. And that I'm not as light as I look."

"I think you broke something," he muttered, finding it hard to speak.

"Oh, tosh," she quipped. "Don't be a baby."

"Don't you 'don't be a baby' me, girl. You have no idea who you're dealing with," he growled.

"Oh, Skulduggery," Valkyrie chided. "Be nice."

"_Make_ me."

"Okay," she said with a delicate shrug.

And before he knew it, he was laughing, trapped under the body of a girl while his partner and best friend tickled him.

"That's… not… fair…" he gasped. "Stop... stop!"

"Will you be nice?"

"Yes, yes, I give!"

"Good." Satisfied, Valkyrie stood up and eyed the girl sitting on top of Skulduggery.

"Why are you here?" she asked Carma.

"Why do you think I'm here?" she asked cheekily, throwing her head back and laughing merrily. Skulduggery, however, gasped at the sudden movement.

"YIPPIE-KI-YAY!" someone screamed. And quick as a flash, another body was sitting on top of Skulduggery, this one dripping wet, drenching both him and Carma. Her jeans, instead of dark blue, looked closer to black, and her tight black t-shirt shimmered in the dying sunlight.

This new girl had to have had the curliest hair Valkyrie had ever seen. It was light brown and the boisterous ringlets fell just past her shoulders, the frizz made even worse because of the water. Her skin was even paler than Carma's, and _her_ millions of freckles matched her hair. Her face was delicately sculpted, made for smiling and laughing.

"What's up?" she said, leaning back and quite relaxed.

"Valkyrie! Help me!"

Valkyrie grinned evilly. "No, I'm good here."

"Bitch," he grumbled.

"_What_'_s up_, Braelyn, is that I know that this guy's thinking."

"Ooooh, the Skeleton Detective! Nice catch!"

Skulduggery made some incoherent noise of protest. "Catch?"

Valkyrie couldn't seem to contain herself any longer and threw her head back, collapsing into a heap on the pavement, her face going red. Skulduggery glared at her, cursing the gift of laughter to high heaven.

"GET. OFF. ME!"

They both looked at him, and he noticed Braelyn's eyes were a beautiful hazel.

"No," they said, simply and in unison.

Valkyrie couldn't breathe.

Another voice interrupted them. "BRAELYN! CARMA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?"

Valkyrie caught a hold of herself and sat up, almost terrified just by this newcomer's voice alone. It had been years since she'd felt that sort of immediate fear. Looking upon this new arrival, she also felt some strange sort of… respect.

Her wavy hair was almost at her waist, a dark brown, almost rivalling Valkyrie's own colour. Unlike the other two, she was tall; at least a good five or six inches taller than them, and her skin was a beautiful tanned olive tone, as if she was always in the sun. She was nowhere near skinny, but it was pretty obvious most of her bulk was muscle. She probably needed it to keep the two sitting on Skulduggery in line.

"Who are you?"

Instead of answering, she walked to the two girls using Skulduggery as a seat, put a hand on each of their shoulders, and gripped. _Hard_. With a quick movement, they were standing, and she had an arm around each of them, holding them back.

"My name is Azzalyth. I guess it's my job to take care of these two."

"You weren't doing a very good job," Skulduggery said, picking himself up.

Azzalyth took one look at him and started laughing.

"You're not serious?" she asked. It took Valkyrie and Skulduggery a moment to realize they all had distinct Australian accents. "The big bad Skeleton Detective taken out by a pair of fifteen-year-old girls? Oh, that's rich! I love it!"

"Fifteen?"

She laughed again, boisterously, her deep brown eyes sparkling. "We're all fifteen. Carma's oldest, Braelyn's youngest. I'm somewhere in the middle, but I'm stuck being the responsible one."

Valkyrie's mouth dropped open. "But you look like your nineteen or twenty!"

"It's because I'm tall," she replied, smiling kindly. It suited her. "Sometimes it's like I'm the mother to these two three year olds. They seem to have no common sense sometimes."

"That's not true!" Braelyn protested indignantly. "I have twelve dollars and thirty-four cents! That's…" she paused, trying to figure it out.

"See what I mean?"

Valkyrie burst into laughter again.

Carma and Braelyn turned to each other, each with an identical smile.

"You wanna?" asked Carma.

"Yes!" cried Braelyn, and quick as a flash, they were atop the Bentley, holding hands, eyes closed, legs crossed.

"Oh, not again," Skulduggery complained. He turned to Azzalyth, almost pleading. "Can't you do anything?"

Azzalyth looked over the two girls again. "I don't think so. They won't leave it until they get what they're looking for."

"And how long will that take?"

She laughed again. "They won't get it. They don't have the power. I'm what they need."

"What?"

She glanced at him quizzically. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

Valkyrie jumped into the conversation. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We're psychics," she said, looking back at the giggling teenagers sitting on Skulduggery's pride and joy. "They like to think they're all powerful psychics, but what they're attempting is my specialty. Carma's a mind reader, and can read minds around her for about three kilometers if she'd bother to concentrate for once in her life."

"I heard that," Carma shouted back at her.

"No you didn't. Anyway, Braelyn's kind of a hypnotist. She can make you think anything she wants you to think, and every now and again, she can see your past by touching you. I think in the years I've known her she's had one or two visions of the future too. She's pretty much a Sensitive.

"Before you say anything, Skulduggery, you have to know that we are not mages. We're completely human, but these are just quirks we have. We've been through test after test, trying to figure it out. None of us have a single drop of magical blood in out veins."

"And you?" Valkyrie asked. "What do you do?"

Azzalyth paused for a minute. "I'm a psychic medium. I speak to spirits and such. And I can tell things… like a sixth sense. Don't ask how, I don't know. But the three of us are much more powerful than any Adept that decided to study mind reading or hypnosis. This is different. We came to Ireland to see if the Sanctuary could help us.

"Did you have to bring these two with you?" Skulduggery grumbled.

"You sound like some mean old man who caught kids playing in his front yard," Azzalyth noted.

"Are you going to answer the question?"

Azzalyth looked at him levelly for a moment, and he backed off a bit. Her eyes has something hidden in them, something sinister, making her seem exceptionally wise beyond her years. The age in them could've rivalled China.

"I can't leave them alone," she said, looking back at them, her voice quiet. "We don't understand these powers we have. We can deal with it better if we're together – if something happens, it's easier for us to talk to one another rather than some random mage off the street."

"You can't get into the Sanctuary," Valkyrie said suddenly.

"Why not?"

_It's to do with the case_, Skulduggery realized. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before.

"That's right," he said. "The Vault was broken into three days ago. The Sanctuary has taken all the artefacts out of the rooms that are having their alarm systems replaced and is keeping them safe within the Sanctuary itself. Only a select few people are allowed in and out of the Sanctuary at the moment."

Azzalyth's face fell. Frowning didn't suit her. She sighed. "Well, I guess we'll have to wait until–"

She stopped, her face seemingly glazing over, and her entire body stiffened.

Carma gave a cry, and before anyone knew what was happening, Braelyn was supporting her, and words were flowing out of her mouth like a waterfall, too fast for comprehension on account of her strong accent. Braelyn, however, knew what she was saying, and her face paled significantly.

"What's going on?" Valkyrie asked. "Azzalyth? What's happening?"

She didn't respond. At all.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, there it is. My first FanFiction. Hope you liked it :) I would be asleep, but it's a Friday night and I'm not sleeping well at the moment, so I figured I'd give you all something to read. Make sure you review! And thanks, for reading, by the way. If you're reading my little notes, you're obviously awesome, so thanks again. And yes, I understand there may be errors, but if you're reading this then you're awesome enough to not care right? Right! And yes, I've proofread it to the best of my ability. It's always harder to find mistakes in your own work than someone else's. Any writer would say the same thing.**

**Oh, yeah. This is dedicated to Carma Bain Bentley. If she hadn't given me the idea about someone sitting on Skulduggery's car about six months ago in one of our English lessons, this entire story wouldn't have ever been born.**

**Thanks, lovelies.**


	2. Visions

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2. Visions<strong>

"Azzalyth?" Valkyrie asked again. And again, Azzalyth didn't move.

"Skulduggery!" Azzalyth had started to fall backwards, her expression seemingly frozen on her face, and Valkyrie had a little trouble letting her down gently.

Skulduggery flew forwards and took her other arm, and he could feel the muscles in her arms working insanely, twitching and seizing up.

"Braelyn!" he barked. "What the hell is going on?"

Braelyn, however, was focused on Carma, trying to stop her from thrashing and failing miserably. Carma was still muttering nonsense, too fast to be understood, and she was in obvious pain, leaving Skulduggery confused. He'd never seen this happen before.

"Valkyrie, get back!" he snapped. She looked at him crookedly for a second, and without a second thought, he had Azzalyth on the ground and had launched himself across her as her entire body spasmed. He covered Valkyrie's body with his own, feeling her body heat, as a miniature explosion sounded from right behind him, and a wave of unimaginable heat radiated out from the epicentre.

And the screams.

The two screams that he heard that day would haunt him for years.

They were horrific. Like someone was ever so slowly pricking Carma and Azzalyth with jagged, poisoned needles and digging them in to their flesh. The sound of it tore through him, the almost disembodied sounds wailing and screaming danced around him as if those creating them were being subjected to unimaginable torture.

Looking back, he didn't even think he'd screamed like that when Serpine had pointed his red right hand at him.

Braelyn had been thrown off the roof of the Bentley and was lying unconscious on the road, her curls wildly thrown around and covering her face. A quick look at her told Skulduggery that she was breathing, but it was ragged and uneven.

Skulduggery stood slowly, pulling his gun from his coat and pointing it at Azzalyth. He'd never experienced anything like that before, and wasn't sure exactly what had happened. All three girls were slumped, Braelyn on the road, Azzalyth on the pavement and Carma was half on, half off the Bentley.

"What was that?" Valkyrie asked, rubbing her head.

"I have no idea," he replied, watching the three girls. Valkyrie shook her head, instantly regretted it. Looking on carefully, she noticed the unconscious bodies of the girls, and gasped slightly.

"Skulduggery, help me get them inside!"

"_What_?" he shrieked. "You expect me to let these three crazy girls _into my home_? I don't _think_ so!"

"Do I have to tickle you again?" Valkyrie asked threateningly.

He recoiled as if she'd actually tried to. "I'll be good." His voice was small, but she heard him. She laughed.

"Come on, hurry up. Those two," she said, jerking her head over to Carma and Braelyn, "look as if they'll burn, even in _this_ dying light."

First off, however, they had to get Azzalyth inside. If the others woke up without her inside, God knew _what_ havoc they would wreak before she stopped them.

It wasn't easy to get a hold of her. Their hands kept slipping on her long black coat. The black leather was hot, Skulduggery could feel that from a distance. He started unzipping it, before catching Valkyrie's raised eyebrows.

"What, you want her to turn into a steamed vegetable? Sorry Val, I think you've forgotten that I don't eat."

She shook her head good-naturedly, and helped him pull it off Azzalyth's malleable form. To feel the muscles in her body just flowing around like that… It wasn't natural. It gave no resistance. Skulduggery found himself checking her pulse again.

Valkyrie tossed Azzalyth's calf-length coat over her shoulder and wrapped a hand around her upper arm. Skulduggery gripped her other arm and they heaved her up.

Her combat boots dragged on the pavement, her long dark hair fell around her face, and Skulduggery's grip kept slipping on her sweaty arm.

_This girl_'_s a paradox_, he thought to himself. _It_'_s late winter_ _and she's wearing long_, _black_,_ boot-legged jeans_,_ a black leather coat that reaches halfway down her calves_,_ and a _singlet?_ What the hell is this girl thinking?_

His hold slipped again. _And it_'_s a strappy singlet at that._

It was true. The singlet was a little low-cut, and had two straps that connected to a third strap that hooked around them on her back. It was dark blue and tie-dyed, three bits of overlapping fabric. All in all, it was actually pretty.

_Now_, _if _Valkyrie_ was wearing that…_ He didn't finish the thought. He was lucky his façade didn't light up like a red Christmas light.

He focused on getting Azzalyth inside. With a little air displacement, the door opened, and he led Azzalyth inside, plopping her onto the couch.

He stood, spun on his heel, and started to walk away when Valkyrie's hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist with bone-crushing force. "Where do you think you're going?"

He gestured outside. "They may be idiots, but I'm not about to leave them outside where anyone can just pick them up and walk off."

She looked at him levelly for a moment and let him go, giving a quick nod before returning to make Azzalyth a little more comfortable.

Skulduggery walked outside quickly, heading over to Braelyn first. She was breathing a little more evenly, but he didn't waste any time picking her up, throwing her over a shoulder and turning to Carma – who wasn't there.

_What was that about someone picking them up and walking off_?

"Oh, shit."

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><p>Azzalyth's eyes opened slowly. Her head hurt like the six shades of hell, and a painful thrumming drilled her body. Her heart was beating fast, too fast, and it felt as if her brain had exploded inside her skull.<p>

A groan escaped her and her head fell to the side. She heard quiet breathing in the room and realized she wasn't alone.

"Hey," Valkyrie said quietly.

Azzalyth completely ignored her. "Where's Carma?"

Valkyrie leaned back and blinked. "Um…"

Azzalyth ignored the pain that was quickly becoming worse and repeated the question. "_Where is she_?"

Valkyrie looked back over her shoulder and glanced at Skulduggery. "We… We sort of…"

Skulduggery took up the slack. "We don't know."

"_WHAT_?" she screamed. She attempted to get up, failed miserably. "We have to find her!"

"Hey, hey calm _down_," Valkyrie said. "Just calm down, we'll find her."

"You!" Azzalyth exclaimed. "You," she repeated, pointing at Skulduggery. "We have to find her. You're a detective. Go outside and detect! _Go_!"

"Whoa, whoa," he said, hands held up in front of him in a gesture of peace. "We need leads first, and before we do anything else we need to know what the hell happened to you."

Azzalyth gave a very audible huff of a mixture of disappointment and exasperation. "I had a vision, okay? And don't ask me any–"

"A vision? About what?"

"GODDAMMIT, _LISTEN_ TO ME!" she shrieked, her voice almost shaking the house. As it was, Braelyn rolled over and a frown crossed her sleeping face.

Skulduggery was shocked speechless. While Azzalyth had the advantage, she pressed forwards. "I can't tell you what the vision was about, alright? I have no idea what happened. _That_'_s_ why we need Carma. I _have_ the visions, but I don't actually _see_ the visions. It's just… blurred images. Carma's a mind reader, remember? She sees them clearly whenever I have them. That's why she always needs to be around. Without her, I may as well not have any visions at all!"

"What are the visions usually about?" Valkyrie inquired calmly.

"What are visions normally about? Unimaginable horror, impending doom, imminent deaths, things like that. Without her, though, we don't know what the hell's going on. We _need_ her, now!"

"I thought you said _Braelyn_ had visions of the future?" Skulduggery interjected.

"Yeah, she has visions. But, more often than not, they're useless. They're just visions of what may happen. You know, she'll see if we're going to meet someone. She knew that we were going to meet you guys today. My visions are completely different."

"How so?" Valkyrie's confusion could have been interpreted by a monkey.

"Mine come about in a different way. Braelyn's are proper visions. Mine are more… warnings."

"Warnings from who?" Skulduggery asked.

"The dead, mostly," she said. "I'm a medium, remember?"

"So what's going on?"

"I had a vision, someone knew that I wouldn't know anything about it, and took Carma because she's the only one that actually knows what's going to happen."

Valkyrie frowned and pressed her thumbs to her temples. "This is all so confusing."

Azzalyth cocked her head to the side. "Not really."

Valkyrie glared. "So what do we do now?"

"You two are detectives, aren't you? Go outside and detect. We need Carma back. If not, God knows what disaster's right around the corner."

Azzalyth's forehead was creased with concentration, and yet she couldn't seem to get anything. Skulduggery was beginning to doubt they even had powers at all. Maybe that 'vision' was all for show.

"What the hell is going on?" Azzalyth exclaimed, whipping around and throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "I can't get a reading on _anything_!"

"What, like your powers aren't working?" Valkyrie asked.

"No, more like…" She paused and turned back towards the house just in time to catch Braelyn stumbling towards her. Azzalyth wrapped her arms around Braelyn's shaking form and held her tight.

"Where is she?" Braelyn whispered.

"I don't know," Azzalyth whispered right back.

"More like what?" Valkyrie pressed.

Azzalyth stared off into the distance as a streetlight came on, illuminating the road in an eerie glow. "It's more like something is deliberately blocking me from getting any type of reading. I can't figure this out!"

Her grip noticeably tightened, and Braelyn shivered.

"Who would do this?" Braelyn asked.

Azzalyth closed her eyes. "I don't know, Braelyn. I don't know."

Skulduggery snapped to attention. If _they_ weren't going to help, he was going to do it all himself.

"Valkyrie, start looking for clues."

She grinned at him despite the melancholy situation. "Yes, boss."

If he'd had a tongue, he would have stuck it out at her. He was lucky she couldn't see him blushing. Not that he physically _could_, but…

* * *

><p>After half an hour of searching thoroughly, they found nothing. As they walked inside, he felt Valkyrie's presence as she walked a little closer to him than usual.<p>

They entered the living room to find Azzalyth and Braelyn sitting in the dark, expressions blank.

"It's so quiet," Braelyn breathed.

Azzalyth gave her a hug. "We'll try again in the morning."

Valkyrie cleared her throat; they jumped at the sound.

Azzalyth looked up while Braelyn yawned hugely. They looked – and sounded – exhausted.

"Would you guys like to stay here tonight? I'm sure we can set you up on some of the sofas…"

Azzalyth stood up and seemed about to protest when Braelyn took her wrist. Azzalyth glances at her, nodded. "Yes, please. As soon as we find Carma we'll be out of your hair. I'm sorry for the inconvenience," she said.

"No need to sound so formal," Valkyrie said, smiling. Azzalyth didn't smile back.

"Wait," Skulduggery said. "This is _my_ house, and you're just going to invite them to–"

"Yes, I am," Valkyrie stated flatly, cutting him off. "Oh, come on, Skulduggery. Look at them. I'd offer to take them to Gordon's, but–"

"Then why don't you do that?"

"–it's so far away, and I'm sure they'll want to start searching for their friend as soon as possible."

Skulduggery harrumphed, but gave in. "All right, but I want them out of here as soon as possible, okay?"

Azzalyth gave a weak smile. "Deal. Thank you."

"Come on," Valkyrie said quietly, helping Braelyn to her feet and heading towards one of the spare rooms. "You're going to need all the energy you can get if we're going to find this guy."

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><p>Carma's head was hanging, causing pain to spike through her head. Without the spare oxygen to groan, she tried pulling her arms and legs into her body to curl up for a while, but she found something stopping her. Pulling again, she found chains.<p>

"What?" she said. Her voice slurred, and her read rolled to the side, finding that her ankle was chained to the wall.

Panic rocked through her. What had happened when she was out?

Her head lolled back, and she found her wrists chained to the wall. Now the panic _really_ started to set in. What happened?

"Where am I?" she asked no-one.

Then no-one turned into someone, and a young man with raven-black hair and deep green eyes was staring her right in the face. "Where do you think you are?"

All the blood drained out of Carma's face. "Oh, fudge nuggets."

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><p><strong>AN: Oooh look! A cliffhanger! I'm kinda sorta proud of myself. I figured I'd give you all a little insight to what's going on to Carma. You all excited? 'Cause I sure am :) I think, once again, I have to at least **_**partially**_** dedicate this to ****Carma Bain Bentley****, but only a little bit :P Hope you enjoyed. I'll update soon I hope. Depends on how much time I have to write. I'll probably stay up late again and write. That seems to be working, then updating the next morning... Tiresome, yes, but it works :D**

**Please review, any constrictive criticism would be greatly appreciated.**

**Ta ta, lovelies.**


	3. Amnesia

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

**(I'm getting sick of writing that...)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3. Amnesia<strong>

Braelyn woke up with throbbing temples and a bump on the back of her head. Her throat felt scraped raw, and rolling over to look round the room took a great effort. She vaguely remembered something bad happening the night before, and stared at what seemed to be a living room, with Azzalyth sprawled out of the floor, a pillow wedged under the arm she was sleeping on.

Something was missing, but she just couldn't seem to put her finger on it.

"Azzalyth?" she whispered. Her friend didn't stir. "Oi! Wake up!"

Azzalyth muttered something incomprehensible, and Braelyn decided she wanted answers.

"Get up!" she said loudly, pulling the pillow out from under Azzalyth and whacking her across the head with it.

"Dammit!" Azzalyth yelled, jerking upright. "I'm getting there, Braelyn, calm your shit!"

Braelyn recoiled a little. "Sorry. I'm just…"

A head rush made her lean back into the sofa she was sitting on. A groan escaped her throat, no matter how hard she clamped her mouth shut.

Azzalyth hung her head too. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted."

"I heard you two across the house," Skulduggery said, opening the door.

Braelyn shrieked and hurled a pillow across the room at him. "GET OUT!"

Skulduggery manipulated the air and sent the pillow flying in the other direction. "What?"

Azzalyth stood. Her hair was a mess, knots and matted parts standing up. Her pants and singlet were creased, and quickly she picked up her coat and threw it at Braelyn, whose shirt had twisted and showed a good portion of her cleavage. Well, whatever cleavage she actually had…

"You could knock," Azzalyth pointed out. "God knows what you must walk in on on a regular basis."

Skulduggery was lucky his facade wasn't up – it would have been bright red. "I heard shouts," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said. She may have been fifteen, but she even made Skulduggery, a four-hundred-and-something year old _dead man _feel like a child.

_I know the feeling_, Braelyn thought.

Valkyrie stuck her head in the door, a bit too cheerful for Braelyn's taste. "Oh! We're all up? How is everyone this morning?"

Braelyn, under the cover of Azzalyth's coat, fixed her shirt and stood up. "I'm not good," she said, deciding to add something to the conversation. "I don't know why, but there's something bugging me."

Azzalyth frowned; she _really_ needed to stop doing that. She just didn't look _normal_. "Same here, Braelyn. I don't know why, but I feel like something's… missing."

Valkyrie blinked. "Um, maybe you're missing a friend?"

Azzalyth and Braelyn looked at her, dumbfounded. "What missing friend?"

Valkyrie's shock was obvious. "You know, the one that was kidnapped last night? Carma? The mind reader?"

Braelyn, for one, had no clue what this crazy woman was talking about.

"What are you saying? That me and Azzalyth have another friend? I think you're mistaken."

"But last night–"

"What about last night? It's only ever been me and Braelyn," Azzalyth said. "You know, kind of like some dynamic duo. There's never been a third person."

"But–"

"But _what_?"

While Valkyrie scrambled for an answer, Skulduggery put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Azzalyth, think back to last night. You know something's missing. You know what it is. How could you forget? The thing you're missing fricking _crash tackled_ me. That's hard to forget."

Azzalyth's expression darkened. "Something's not right," she said. "I can't get a fix on anything."

Braelyn studied her friend for a moment. Something definitely _wasn_'_t right_. At _all_.

"Azzalyth?"

But the robust brunette didn't move as her hair fell around her face. Her forehead creased in a frown as if she was concentrating to some ungodly degree.

"Azzalyth, what's going–"

The question was cut short when Azzalyth's back suddenly straightened. Braelyn heard a few cracks, and Azzalyth's head fell backwards, her eyes wide and staring. Her chest was heaving; Braelyn had _never_ heard her hyperventilate before. A swift gasp sounded, and Azzalyth's entire body slumped, her hair splaying around her like a waterfall.

"What the hell is happening?" Valkyrie asked, running forwards and catching Azzalyth's head just before it hit the ground.

"I don't know!" Braelyn shouted. "I can't focus on anything! Last night is just a blur! Azzalyth and I came here for something… and something happened…" she let out a scream of frustration. "I don't know!"

Skulduggery's hand shot out and gripped tightly around Braelyn's arm. She noticed she had been about to throw a lamp that was sitting on a side table.

"Please," Skulduggery said quickly. "I would appreciate it if you _didn_'_t_ destroy my house. Come on, Braelyn, look at me!"

Braelyn's mouth seemed super-glued shut. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked Valkyrie, attempting to pin Braelyn's arms to her sides.

"Is there any way to get them to remember? Can Nye fix them?"

Skulduggery bared his teeth. Well, technically he didn't have anything to cover them with, but that's what he felt like doing.

"I'm not taking them to see Nye."

Valkyrie laughed despite the situation. "Oh, Skulduggery. Is it that you _do_ care after all?"

"Of course not!"

Braelyn kicked him. "Screw you, man! Let me up!"

If he'd had the things he'd lost when he died, she wouldn't have had to ask. She had good aim, meaning he would've been on the floor.

A groan startled them all into stillness and silence.

"Azzalyth?" Braelyn asked, tears in her eyes. "Azzalyth, oh, God, what's happened to us?"

"Braelyn?"

With a choked sob, Braelyn threw herself forwards and clamped her hands down on Azzalyth's shoulders, an uncanny resemblance to what she herself had done to Carma and Braelyn the night before.

Valkyrie handed Azzalyth over to Braelyn, and after making sure they were comfortable, she rose in a single fluid movement and nodded to Skulduggery.

Without another word, they left the room, leaving the two girls alone to their thoughts.

* * *

><p>"What do you want with me?"<p>

"Oh, now, sweetheart, is that really the way to greet an old friend?"

Carma could have spat at him. "Some friend you turned out to be, asshole."

The young man smiled enchantingly at her. She would _not_ fall for it!

_I will_ not _fall_…

"Carma, dear," he said, resting a hand on her cheek in a twisted sort of affection. "We _were_ a little more than friends at one point, weren't we?"

The sickening taste in her mouth was about to choke her. She gave into the temptation and spat at his face. With lightning-quick reflexes, he ducked out of the way, danced back.

"Let me go."

"Oh, but baby," he said, putting on a mock-hurt expression. She could have rendered him infertile in the most painful way possible and be quite happy listening to him scream. "We've only just found each other again. It's been _so long_…"

"Not long enough. I swear to God, if you don't let me go…"

Carma's hair flicked around as she jerked his head up at his next words. Her bare wrists and ankles were starting to rub on the chains. A few more hours of this and they'd be scraped raw and bleeding.

"What? Will your little psychic friends come and save you? I'm sorry to tell you, dear, but they're not coming. They don't even know who you are anymore. According to them, you don't exist. No-one's coming to help you, so if I were in your position, I'd learn a little respect."

"You're such a fricking turd."

"And that, honey, is why you love me."

"When did love become hate?"

He grinned and moved in closer. "When you met me."

"Oh, God."

"We're going to have so much fun," he insisted, moving in closer… closer… closer…

Carma muttered a little prayer and closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie pulled some food out of the cupboard and started fixing herself something to eat. "What do you think is wrong with them? How could they not know who Carma is?"<p>

Skulduggery sat down and watched her, noticing everything. The tiniest movements of her muscles, the way her dark hair danced around her face, her eyes, quick and sure, scanning everything as she moved.

"I don't know," he said absently. "I don't get it either."

She started talking again, but he didn't pay any attention to what she was actually saying. He was more focused on her, on the way she moved. Ever since that fateful moment a few years ago when Darquesse found herself battling Lord Vile for the first time, they'd both seemed to be able to control it easier. They both had a fair match, and Skulduggery had assumed that the knowledge that there was someone that could stop them had quelled the immediate fury of both of the dark spirits. They still had yet to find a cure, but it was better than nothing.

Even so, the young woman that stood in front of Skulduggery was just as lethal, just as ruthless in battle. She was beautiful, kind, and knew exactly what to do when situations required it. She was practical, a fast thinker, and many over things…

"Skulduggery. Earth to Skulduggery! You there? Hey! Over here!"

Skulduggery shook his head quickly and focused on the conversation at hand.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said," Valkyrie repeated exasperatedly, "we should probably start trying to find Carma. They may not know who she is, but maybe if we find her, they'll remember."

"Yes, of course," he said. He would have thrown himself off a cliff if it would have made her happy.

_What the hell am I thinking_? he scolded himself. _This is Valkyrie_,_ your partner_,_ your best friend_.

He decided it was right to expel those thoughts, so he stood up and headed outside to the Bentley, where he started looking for more clues, something he may have missed the night before when the light was quickly dying. Tapping his facade as he went outside, he felt long blonde hair fall into his eyes. "Dammit," he growled.

The only thing remotely suspicious was the fact that the street was completely empty, and the air was completely still – there were no bird calls, no dogs barking, no hurrying commuters running late for work – and in this part of Ireland, there was _always_ someone running late.

Skulduggery stood up and looked around. Wait a second…

"What the hell?"

A dark mark was staining the Bentley's pristine beauty. A closer inspection told him that it was blood… but he hadn't seen any injury. Carma had been absolutely fine. He didn't want to touch it, but his gloved hand reached for it…

"Skulduggery!" Valkyrie said sharply. "Have you found something?"

He blinked his fake eyelids and stepped back. "Um, uh, yes, I think so."

Valkyrie strolled closer, and Skulduggery slapped a hand to his forehead. "What is it?"

"Blood, I think."

"Why were you trying to touch it?" she asked, obviously confused.

"I don't understand why it's here," Skulduggery said, looking around. "Carma had no physical injuries – and she wasn't even on this side of the Bentley. But how else could blood have gotten here?"

"Maybe whoever took her?"

Skulduggery nodded. "I thought about that. It's the only thing that fits, but I don't know why someone – who was _injured_, no less – took Carma. It has to be about this warning that Azzalyth had."

"Probably. How are we going to find someone when all we have is a small dab of their blood? It's not like we're forensic specialists or something."

"I think I can help with that," Azzalyth said, coming outside. Braelyn was holding onto her arm, and her head was drooping slightly.

"First of all, though, do you have and painkillers?"

"Sure," Valkyrie said, heading back towards the house. "Follow me."

As the three girls headed back inside, Skulduggery looked around again. Why had he had such a strong urge to touch the blood? Why was it that he wanted to smear it around, almost… _play_ with it?

He shook his head and stepped back, deactivating his facade. He turned back to the house to ask how exactly Azzalyth was going to help when she didn't even know who they were looking for, and started walking.

Yep, that was right before something hard came out of nowhere and knocked his head clean off his spinal column.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, there's your third chapter. I would've updated earlier, but the internet was down and I couldn't get onto FanFiction to update. So what'd you think? Yes? No? Longer chapters, shorter chapters? Constructive criticism would be awesome, so feel free to give me any hints to make it better by reviewing *wink wink* :D I've got heaps of ideas swarming around in my head, so I've put them all down somewhere, and yes, Darquesse will pay us all a visit - eventually.**

**I've only got two weeks left before school starts again, so I may not be updating as often as I would like, but I'll try and keep at it. It depends on how much homework the teachers dump on me. I'm entering Senior this year, so it's a little intimidating, but I'll see what I can do :/**

**Once again, I apologize for any mistakes in it. I really do proofread as best I can, it just doesn't always... work...**

**And no, ****Carma****, no dedication to you (well, not really). Stop bugging me about those boots.**

**Enjoy guys!**


	4. Shattered Memories

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

**(Copy and paste is so much easier... God I'm slow :P)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4. Shattered Memories<strong>

His body hit the ground with a hard _thump_, and Skulduggery screamed in pain. He really was _sick_ of losing his extremities.

He felt something in his skull break as it bounced away, then came to a gentle rest on the grass.

"Valkyrie!" he yelled. "Help!"

He never thought he'd be saying that. Granted, she'd saved him more than he'd bargained for since the moment they met.

But instead of Valkyrie, who was probably tending to Azzalyth, a small figure with her head covered in unruly curls shyly stepped out of the house. Her mouth opened in an 'O' as she took in the situation. "What happened?"

Skulduggery growled. "What do you think? Give me a hand."

"What do you say?" Braelyn prompted, not moving.

"What?"

"No, not 'what'. What do you say?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Skulduggery said, losing his patience.

Braelyn scoffed. "You're not going anywhere with your head that far from your body. Where are you manners?" she said, a sly smile creeping across her porcelain face.

"That's what this was about?"

Braelyn looked surprised. "Of course. If you're not polite to those you meet it'll come back around to bite you."

"Karma," Skulduggery said, sighing.

"Yes, she'll bite you too, and I'll tell you what, _she_'_s_ the one that hurts."

Skulduggery cut off his next sigh and looked at her sharply. "What did you just say?"

Braelyn frowned and seemed to be trying to remember. "I don't know. What did I say?" Panic flared. "What did I _just_ say? Why can't I remember what I _just said_!" Her fear was getting the best of her. Skulduggery was going to be lying on the grass all day if she didn't get a hold of herself.

Her mental breakdown was interrupted by the arrival of Azzalyth and Valkyrie.

Azzalyth turned immediately to her friend, while Valkyrie gasped and ran over to Skulduggery's skull, putting it back on his neck and helping him stand, then looking over it.

"There's a hairline fracture along your cheekbone. It'll fix itself, but try to avoid being punched in the face, okay?"

"No, no, I was thinking it'd be fun. You know how I love getting punched in the face. Oh please, mum! Come on!"

Valkyrie smiled at him. He felt a tingling sensation. "Don't even think about it, young man."

Skulduggery scoffed. "Young man? Please, don't make me laugh little girl."

"_Little girl_?"

"Have you noticed you seem to be shrinking?"

"I was wondering why the ground seemed to be getting closer lately."

"Yes, yes, and the closer the ground gets, the further away you get from my amazing personality."

"Or amazingly huge ego."

"Well, yes, I suppose my ego _is_ quite large."

"Are you kidding? You have an ego people can poke a stick at."

"Why would someone want to poke a stick at _my_ amazing ego?"

"Because they can't believe how big it is."

Azzalyth glanced up. "You two sound like Braelyn and…" she stalled. "I don't know. But someone."

Then Valkyrie glanced back over her shoulder at Braelyn, shaking in Azzalyth's firm grip. "What happened to her?" she asked.

"I don't know. I think she remembered something then lost it as soon as she said it. She's freaking out."

"What made her remember?"

"She gave me the whole talk about what goes around comes back around to bite you."

"And?"

"And I said '_karma_', you know, with a '_K_'? Then she said Carma would come around and bite you, meaning her friend, saying it'd hurt. Then something happened and she doesn't even remember saying it," Skulduggery finished, perplexed. "I don't know what's going on with them."

Valkyrie started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I finally just managed to see the funny side of coming outside to you lying on the ground with you head fifteen feet away from you." She almost choked on the words, and put a hand on his arm, holding herself up as she doubled over, a hand on her stomach.

Skulduggery growled and shook her hand off, causing her to fall to her knees.

_Now_, he thought, _what was it that hit me_?

Looking around he found a rock out of the garden lying on the grass. "They were in my _garden_?" he asked in disbelief.

He walked over, half his mind on the rock, the other half watching out for anymore projectiles. As he picked it up, he almost dropped it.

"What the–"

Then he _did_ drop it, right on his foot. "Dammit!"

He looked at the shell-like casing that had fallen off the rock and carefully started unfolding it.

_What once was found,_

_Is now lost;_

_What once was priceless,_

_Now has not cost;_

_What once was loved,_

_Is long forgotten;_

_What once was here,_

_Is so far gone;_

_DO NOT LOOK FOR HER._

"What?"

Valkyrie had managed to compose herself and had stumbled over, still chuckling. The moment her eyes scanned the words, however, she instantly sobered. "Azzalyth? Come over here."

"What happened?" she asked as she neared them.

"Read this," Skulduggery said, shoving the wrinkled cardboard towards her.

She scanned it, and after the three second it took her to read it, her face had lost all colour. "We _are_ missing a friend," she said, her voice unnaturally quiet. "But why don't I know who it is? Why can't I remember?"

Valkyrie turned to Skulduggery. "Is there a type of Adept who can wipe memories?"

Skulduggery thought for a moment. "Very possibly. We could check with the Sanctuary."

Azzalyth seemed to be concentrating very hard on the piece of cardboard. A gasp split the silence and her hands clenched on the note while her knees buckled and she fell. "I… I think… maybe… I don't know…"

"What did you see?" Valkyrie asked, a hand clamping down on Azzalyth's wrist. "Azzalyth, what did they show you?"

"I saw… _him_…"

"Who, Azzalyth?" Braelyn pressed calmly, taking her other arm. "Tell me who you see."

"It's… it's dark… I can't see anything… There's nothing there… Wait… wait he… He has… black hair… green eyes… pale skin… There's a girl… she's chained up… up on the wall… he's… he's _hurting_ her… He's got a… a knife… he… no… no, stop… Stop! Stop hurting her! Let her go!"

A scream tore out of her, but behind her own voice there was another wail, a painful one, someone being tortured.

"Carma," Braelyn said. "Is that her name?"

* * *

><p>Carma's eyes had been all but glued together by the rivulet of blood that was dribbling down her face. In a way, she was grateful. She no longer had to look at his disgustingly handsome face.<p>

"Come on," he taunted. "Where are all the jokes? The laughs? We used to have so much fun together."

"That was then," Carma gasped out, clenching her eyes closed.

"Yes, I agree. That was then, this is now. But what do you say? A little fun? For old times' sake?"

"Old times' sake? Dude, you can't use that line on me anymore." Carma was exhausted, having experienced one of Azzalyth's warnings, then having been up all night, _then_ having had to look at this freak in front of her, then having blood loss on _top_ of that…

Anyone'd be about to fall asleep.

Carma took one last deep breath before her mind retreated into the merciful oblivion that was unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Skulduggery glanced around. "Yes, Braelyn. Her name is Carma. Do you remember now?"<p>

Braelyn shook her head vigorously. "I don't know… I can't see her face. I don't know who she is. All I know is her name."

"That'll be enough," he said, and he knelt down by Azzalyth. "Azzalyth. Look at me. Listen to my voice. Wherever you are, you don't need to be there anymore. Leave that awful place and come back to us."

"I can't," she said; a broken whisper. "I can't leave her there alone. I'm not leaving here there!"

Skulduggery gave her a gentle shake, harder when he got no response.

"Move," Braelyn said, pushing him out of the way. "This is my specialty."

Braelyn took hold of her shoulders, her voice taking on soothing ad hypnotic tones. Skulduggery and Valkyrie found themselves almost entranced. They would do whatever this girl asked. They would do anything for her, because she could bring them peace. They would travel to the ends of the earth and back, because she could bring the sun into even the darkest places.

She stopped talking, and the enchantment stopped. "What was that?" Valkyrie asked.

Braelyn barely spared her a glance as Azzalyth shook, her hair creating a thick, impenetrable curtain around her face. "That was my mind control at work. I convinced her to leave the vision."

Azzalyth's shaking slowly stopped, she calmed down, and she looked up.

"I know who took her."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh dearie me (do I sound like an old lady? I think I do, but it's part of my disguise that makes me awesome. Contradictoryness!). Barely 5 pages. I'm not sure if it's worthy to be called a chapter, but there it is.** **Anyway, I would've updated earlier, but it would've been even shorter and nowhere near as decent. I'm almost thankful for my crappy internet at the moment. FanFiction really doesn't seem to want to let me log on much at all...**** Well, there you have it. **

**AND, OMG! Double cliffhanger! Poor Carma.** **I almost feel sorry for her. And then I get her complaining about boots, and the feeling goes away :) Mwahahaha! I don't** **even know who this green-eyed dude is yet. Any ideas for names? I've got nothing so far. I might think of something, but my brain is still in holiday mode. It'll probably stay like that** **for another week and a bit, until school starts again.**

**And please review! I've gotten a couple, and I've felt weirdly ecstatic to know that people are bothering to let me know what they think. Makes me feel special, I think. Makes me feel over the moon! Makes me feel like I've just drunk a can of V or RockstaR or some shiz like that! Makes me feel... Okay, I'm getting off track. Wow this is a long authors note. Better wrap up.**

**Thank you all for reading - I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**Update soon, m'dears.**


	5. A Fitting Name

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5. A Fitting Name<strong>

Not two minutes later, they were huddled in the kitchen, going over every possible detail of the vision – most of it, however, was just darkness. Azzalyth's hadn't seen much.

"You said you knew who it was. Can you give us a name?"

Azzalyth started to shake her head – it must have been a reflex action, considering how much she'd done it lately. Then she nodded. "His name is Lucifer."

Skulduggery scoffed. "Lucifer? Is he dumb?"

Braelyn gasped and lost whatever little colouring she had, shrinking back into Azzalyth. "No," she whispered.

"Who calls themselves Lucifer?" Skulduggery was asking.

"Who calls themselves Skulduggery?" Azzalyth shot back.

"One who fits the name – oh."

She gave him a hard look. "He likes to think of himself as the ultimate evil. He doesn't stop what he's doing until he's completely incapacitated. He's got the most sadistic personality you can find. Jack the Ripper might have been a hero of war compared to Lucifer."

Valkyrie blanched. Then she stood, her hands clenching into fists. "We have to stop him!"

Azzalyth nodded until she felt her head might've fallen off. "Agreed. But we have a few issues. One, we don't know where he is. Two, he has Carma, whoever she is; he's got her chained up. We kill him, we lose her. Three, he's probably set up countless traps around where he's set up his hideout."

"Four," Skulduggery continued, "he may have accomplices."

Braelyn was shaking hard, so the fact that she was shaking her head was barely noticeable. "No," she whispered. "No one would help him. He'd kill them; suspect them of treachery before even telling them anything."

Skulduggery sat back and let out a low whistle. "First step: let's find him. How did you get your vision from the cardboard?"

Azzalyth blinked, and thought for a moment. Her beautiful brown eyes clouded over a little with concentration. "I just held it and focused. I can do it with anything, but anywhere near the Bentley seems to be a dead zone. I don't know why. I didn't notice it last night."

"Could someone have blocked it?" Valkyrie asked her.

Azzalyth thought. "I suppose so. I don't know how."

Skulduggery tilted his head, then snapped his fingers as if a light bulb had suddenly turned on just above his head. "The area may be a dead zone, but the items inside it may not be. Stay here."

Braelyn shivered. She hadn't stopped. As Azzalyth pulled her in for a hug, she whimpered "As if we're going anywhere…"

Valkyrie could feel the fear coating the two girls like a veil. "We need reinforcements," she said.

Pulling out her phone, she stood to leave the room, but Azzalyth's hand shot forwards with almost untraceable speed and clamped down on her wrist. "Please. Stay with us."

Valkyrie said nothing, but after studying them for another few moments, she nodded. She flipped her phone open and hit a number on speed-dial. Without even time to blink, a young man with ridiculous hair was standing in the kitchen.

"Fletcher!" Valkyrie said with a big smile. They didn't hug, but the shared an awkward handshake. Azzalyth had her head on the kitchen bench, her eyes squeezed closed, and Braelyn was still shaking, but not as badly. Her eyes were wide and staring, however, they were distant, as if they weren't seeing anything.

"Hey, Val. What's going on? Haven't heard for you in a while."

She gave him a wistful smile. "Yeah, sorry about that. Skulduggery and I are going on a hunt and we need back up."

"So you roped me in for my expert fighting skills? You know better than that, Val."

Azzalyth had jerked her head up at the new comer's voice. "No," she said. "We need you, not them."

Fletcher whipped around, caught off guard. His smile changed, became more flirtatious at seeing the two girls.

"Well, hello there," he said.

"Cut it out, Fletch. They're too young for you."

He glanced at her sideways. "Really? How old are you, gorgeous?" he asked, nudging Azzalyth in the arm.

She looked at him in the eyes, the age and pain in them much too old for her face, which seemed her actual age for the first time since Valkyrie had laid eyes on her. Braelyn, however, looked about ten.

Fletcher reared back, as Azzalyth's vision clouded over, and she screamed again, curling in on herself.

"Azzalyth!" Valkyrie shouted, moving towards her again. She wouldn't have any lungs left at this rate.

Fletcher, however, scrambled back, away from Azzalyth, hitting the wall. Panic raced across his expression, and he kept as far away from her as he could. "What's happening?"

Valkyrie leaned forwards, and with Azzalyth hyperventilating, she caught the last few words.

"Trick… scare… blonde…"

Valkyrie kept up the act, seeming like everything was wrong, but inside, she was an ocean of laughter. Azzalyth, this fifteen-year-old Australian girl, was going to deliberately scare Fletcher, a man she's only just met? She had some guts.

A high-pitched whine escaped her throat, and Valkyrie huddled in closer. During this Braelyn hadn't moved.

"What happened? What's she seeing?" Skulduggery shouted, bursting through the door and back into the kitchen.

Then, without a second's hesitation, Azzalyth stood, wobbled on her feet as if her muscles had turned to jelly, and threw herself at Fletcher, who found it his turn to scream.

The feminine shriek tore through the kitchen, and even Valkyrie had hardly heard him scream like that. I mean, _please_, they'd faced unimaginable horror; the White Cleaver, the Faceless Ones, the Jitter Girls, the remnants, and even Darquesse and Lord Vile, and he screamed like that when a _girl_ hurled herself at him?

Her hands braced the wall either side of his head, and she leaned in close, breathing heavily, her eyes drooping and flicking around manically under her lids. She seemed to lose strength in her arms and leaned in closer… closer…

Then she stopped moving, opened her eyes, blinked and looked at him. "Well, _hello_ there, handsome," she said brightly.

The kitchen erupted in laughter. Valkyrie was holding her stomach again, clutching the bench for support, Skulduggery found himself sitting down, and Braelyn had even snapped out of her little trance and was chucking heartily to herself.

Even Azzalyth herself was laughing. She stumbled back, almost running into Valkyrie, and doubled over, her face turning red.

Fletcher looked around angrily. "What happened? What's going on?"

Azzalyth, now curled up on the ground, coughed a few times, then laughed again. "I… I saw the most…" More laughter. "The most hideous thing!" More laughter, this one taking a few moments.

"What?" he asked, seemingly concerned.

"I saw… I saw…" More laughter, a few coughs this time. "I saw your face!"

The other three, which by this time, had almost gotten a hold of themselves, kept laughing, so much so that the girls in the room forgot to breathe.

Everyone was going purple by the time they'd managed to calm down, the girls with lack of oxygen, and Fletcher with rage.

"You look like an angry kitten that got his ball of string taken off him," Braelyn remarked.

"Don't _do_ that!" Fletcher shouted angrily. "First of all, I am _not_ hideous, second, I am not some _kitten_, and third, you had me worried for a moment there!"

Azzalyth's hands reached up and she gripped the side of the bench, and pulled herself up, a massive smile on her face, which had turned pink instead of red.

"You mean I scared the shit out of you," she said, still smiling. It seemed her good nature was actually concerned about Fletcher.

He didn't answer.

"Yep, that seems about right," Valkyrie said. "You were scared, weren't you, Fletcher?"

He snorted. "Me? Scared? You've got to be kidding."

"You screamed," Braelyn pointed out.

He looked at all of them in turn, and slumped. "Okay, yeah, I screamed. I wasn't expecting it, okay?"

"Aw," Azzalyth said, walking over to him normally and giving him a brief hug. "Sorry, honey. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to scare you. Granted, it's probably the same thing."

Fletcher, who was caught off guard by the endearment, returned the hug, and Azzalyth had to put her hands on his shoulders and push herself away.

"Do I hear an Australian accent?" he asked.

Azzalyth smiled and returned to her seat. "Indeed you do. And in answer to your original question, I'm fifteen."

"But you look older!"

Valkyrie put a hand on Azzalyth's shoulder. "I said the same thing," she said.

"So your name's Azzalyth," he said, more a statement than a question.

"So your name's Fletcher," she returned.

He tilted his head and smiled flirtatiously at her. Her hand shot forwards and clamped down on his nose.

"Ow!" he shouted, scared to try and pull back. "Let go!"

"Stop hitting on me. And don't even try to start on Braelyn. She'll do a lot more than just scare you."

"What? But, what is she? Ten years old?"

Azzalyth clenched harder and Braelyn gave him a look that froze the blood in his veins.

He gulped. "A _scary_ ten-year-old."

Azzalyth leaned in a little. "Fletcher? Shut up."

"Okay, okay! Just let go!"

"Gladly," she said sweetly, letting go. She wiggled her fingers at him sweetly for a second and turned, heading back to the bench.

Azzalyth looked back at Valkyrie for a moment. "_He_'_s_ your backup?"

Valkyrie flushed for a second, then her face cleared. "Well, not really. You noticed he's a teleporter?"

Azzalyth nodded, still confused.

"Well, if we get Carma free we're going to need to get her out, aren't we?"

"If?"

"When," Skulduggery corrected her firmly. "_When_ we get her out."

"Well, yes," Valkyrie said. "_When_ we get her out."

"So, in a way, he's out getaway car?"

"Essentially."

Braelyn shook her head. "You're forgetting something. This is _Lucifer_ we're going after."

"Lucifer? What kind of idiotic name is that?"

Valkyrie hardly spared him a glanced. "Wow, you pronounced 'idiotic' right. I'm almost proud, Fletcher. That's a whole four syllables."

"Back on track, please? Who is this guy?"

Azzalyth looked at him – or maybe looked _through_ him. She couldn't seem to focus on anything.

"He's pretty much the ultimate evil."

"I thought that was Mevolent?"

Azzalyth laughed humourlessly. "He's worse than Mevolent. So much worse. If you think about it, Mevolent had a reason, no matter how screwed up it was. This guy just does what he wants because he feels like it. I've seen case studies of some of his victims. He's ruthless. He kills them in the most painful, tortuous ways possible. He breaks them before he even considers letting them pass. He has them begging for death. And _they_'_re_ the ones he's merciful on. You should see what he does to the women he catches."

Fletcher's face was paler than Skulduggery's bones. "Um. Yeah. I think I've got something on…"

Valkyrie smiled. "You're not letting us down, are you Fletcher?"

"I think I'll sit this one out, actually."

"Please, Fletcher," Azzalyth pleaded, begging in her eyes. Her hands clasped in front of her, and her eyes went wide and filled with tears. "Please," a broken half-sob.

He steeled himself and clenched his fist. "I'll do it."

She gave a half sob-half sigh and threw herself forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Thank you."

He smiled, finding it a little difficult to breathe, and returned the hug, resting his chin gently on top of her shoulder, because she was too tall for him to rest it on her head.

"Oh, and Fletcher? Now I know your secret."

"Hmm? What secret?"

Keeping her arms wrapped around his chest, she pulled her head back and smiled at him. "You have a weakness for weeping women."

"You used litration," Braelyn told her proudly.

She laughed. "It's pronounced _alliteration_, and yes, I'm sure our English teacher would be proud of you for knowing that."

She glanced back at Fletcher and wiped the fake tears from her eyes. "Drama lessons sure come in handy at times like these, don't they?"

He poked his tongue out at her, and there more laughter sounded around them. She looked away for a second and buried her head in his chest for a second, but Fletcher could have sworn he saw her wink at him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay. Okay. Internet's _on_ now. Breathe Amillea. You can update. Internet's back.**

**As you can probably tell, my internet stopped working for a good three hours, and I was having a fit thing because I couldn't update.** **But it's all good now! Breathe...**

**Okay, so, here's your next chapter. It's longer than the last one and I figured it was time to add more people in. More are on their way, I swear! Um, and yes, Braelyn is a bit of a ditz. Just like my friend who she's based on. So I guess it's time to dedicate to her. If she had a FanFiction account, I would use her account name, but she doesn't, so I can't. I may convince her to get one though. She is no doubt my BESTEST BEST FRIEND FOREVER AND EVER. Just so you all know ;)**

**Oh, and the name of this chapter is, once again, dedicated to Carma Bain Bentley, since I couldn't think of one and bugged her until she came up with one I liked :)**

**Righto, now that I've somehow gotten you to waste thirty seconds of you life by reading this note, I should let you go and do somthing else. Probably by wasting a few more seconds to review :D Such an action would be greatly appreciated.**

**Update soon! Chapter 6, here we come!**


	6. Reinforcements

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6. Reinforcements<strong>

Skulduggery cleared his throat, and Azzalyth finally pulled back.

"You like hugs, don't you?"

Azzalyth laughed quietly. It seemed that was her thing – laughter. "I suppose I _am_ a very loving person,"

Valkyrie smiled warmly at her. She could tell Azzalyth was flirting, but whether or not Fletcher knew that was beyond her. He was very slow sometimes.

"So, backup," Braelyn said, returning them to the original issue. "Who do you know that can hold themselves in such a situation?"

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. Their first guess would have been Tanith, but with the Remnant in her she wasn't exactly what you would class as _helpful_.

"Ghastly," Valkyrie said. "He'll help us. And he might even get some Cleavers for us too."

Azzalyth shook her head. "Cleavers are strong and fast, but they're honestly no match for Lucifer. I'm having a hard enough time trying to let myself allow you guys to come. We need someone that knows when to run. People that aren't going to fight until they're incapacitated or dead. I couldn't live with myself if something like that happened to people I'd only just met, and that it was my fault."

"Well," Skulduggery. "That severely limits out options. If only we had Tanith back… But yes," he said, standing straight. "Ghastly will help us; I'm sure of it. If we can pull him away from his desk for long enough, that is."

Fletcher scoffed. "I know how to get him in, no matter what."

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Care to share with us?"

Fletcher smiled and shrugged. "Simple." He pointed at Azzalyth. "Her."

Azzalyth, still smiling, glanced at Fletcher, then away, then back again. She looked a little possessed, but it was probably just the confusion in her eyes. "I don't follow."

He laughed. "Can you pull the waterworks act again? I'm sure Ghastly is one of those people to help a damsel in distress. He won't be able to resist, especially if you pull the begging card like you did to me."

She laughed her boisterous laugh. "Sounds like a plan."

"To the Sanctuary, anyone?"

A few seconds later, Azzalyth and Braelyn were hunched over, retching. Braelyn was the first to speak. "So that's teleporting, huh? No wonder it's not how normal people travel."

Fletcher extended his hands and helped the two girls up. "It gets easier."

Azzalyth coughed a few times and looked around. "So where are we?"

"Where does it look like we are?"

Braelyn coughed and looked around, too. "Umm, a rundown hole-in-the-wall tuppenny, ha-penny place?"

Azzalyth flashed a wonky smile for the Blackadder reference.

"Exactly," Skulduggery said. "That's what it is."

"Then why are we here?"

Fletcher laughed. "Well, the Sanctuary needs to stay hidden, doesn't it?"

Azzalyth stuck her tongue out. "Well, obviously. But where the hell are we?"

Valkyrie wrinkled her nose. "Roarhaven."

"Who-what-nen?"

"Roarhaven. It's where the Sanctuary is based."

Braelyn ran her pale hand through her curls. "I thought it was in a museum."

Valkyrie didn't smile. "That was years ago. It got destroyed. This is the new one."

Azzalyth tilted her head. "Well? What are we waiting for?"

* * *

><p>"Ghastly!" Skulduggery said exuberantly, clasping the man's hand.<p>

His face was horrible scarred, and even though he was hideous, Azzalyth smiled warmly and stepped forwards to give him a brief hug. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Elder Bespoke. I've hears so much about you, even before I came to Ireland."

He smiled back, and suddenly he didn't seem ugly at all. "That's good to hear. It's a pleasure to meet you too."

Skulduggery tilted his head and stared at Azzalyth for a moment.

"Yes?"

"You _really_ like hugging people, don't you?"

"Indeed I do."

Ghastly looked a little confused.

"She hugged Fletcher," Valkyrie explained. "And she endeared him – she called him 'honey'."

Azzalyth grinned and shrugged.

"She hugged _Fletcher_?"

"Yep."

"Without gagging?"

"Yep."

"And she called him _honey_?"

"Yep."

Ghastly let out a low whistle. "You have some guts, miss. I'm proud of you and I don't even know your name."

Braelyn laughed. "Her name's Azzalyth. My name's Braelyn." She sobered. "We need your help."

* * *

><p>It was the red that brought Carma out of her trance. Just the colour red. When she opened her eyes, her head throbbing something shocking, that was all she could see. The first thing she noticed was the change of gravity. She was no longer chained to a wall; no, now she was shackled to something warm and soft.<p>

A bed. He'd strapped her to a bed.

_Sick pervert_, she thought. She got a mental signature from beside the bed, but she couldn't read it; she never could. It was probably the first thing that fascinated her about him.

"Good morning, Carma."

"Lucifer. Why don't you just tell me what the hell you want with me and get it over with, huh?"

"Oh, no dear," he said, smiling that sick smile of his as he came into the light. "You see, that would ruin the fun." He giggled like a child that had just been shown a new toy. "Oh, no. I have so much planned. So much to do, so little time."

"Just you wait," she breathed. "Wait until I get out of here. Wait until they come and get me."

"Oh, Carma, I didn't damage your memory, did I? You see, I distinctly remember telling you that they don't even know you anymore." He laughed his childish laugh again, his features thrown into sharp relief in the dying light.

She felt the bed move as he sat on the end, then he lay down next to her. "Sleep, Carma. Don't worry, I won't touch you."

Her eyelids were heavy; they started sliding closed. Just before the darkness enveloped her and she settled into the peace of sleep, she heard him whisper one word that terrified her, but she was so far gone she couldn't wake up if her life depended on it.

"_Yet_."

* * *

><p>"So you see, Ghastly, we need you. We need help. We have to get her back." Azzalyth and Braelyn were wiping tears away from their eyes, and Ghastly was freaking out. Just slightly.<p>

"Okay, I'm in. Just, please, stop crying. Seriously. I'll help. We'll get her back. Calm down."

The two girls dried their eyes and gave him small smiles.

"Can you give me a physical description of her? I'll put out a line – maybe someone's seen something."

Braelyn and Azzalyth looked at their feet and shook their heads, but Valkyrie spoke up. "Red-gold hair, just past her shoulders. Blue eyes, high cheekbones, pale skin, freckles; her features were almost elfin. She was barefoot, she had a plum coloured shirt and black long pants."

Skulduggery seemed to be raking his memory. "That about sums it up."

Ghastly made a few notes and nodded. "That'll do."

A few minutes later he'd put it through and there were about ready to leave. "Wait," Azzalyth said, stopping in her tracks. She turned to Braelyn. "We need to get back to our hotel."

Braelyn stared her in the eyes for a moment and nodded. "We have to get back," she said, turning to the group. "Fletcher, can you take us back to Skulduggery's? We'll find our way back from there."

He looked confused – as did everyone else.

"Um, sure, I guess," he said. They all linked arms and teleported.

After the initial queasiness the two girls experienced, Azzalyth stood, turned and ran out of the room, heading to the room they'd slept in to go and get her jacket. Braelyn headed outside and after a few seconds, Azzalyth had thrown her coat on and they were gone.

"Well," Valkyrie said. "They were sure gone in a hurry."

Fletcher shrugged. "Well, they did need to get something. I hope they'll be back soon."

Valkyrie stood shocked. Was that tone of voice… almost _wistful_? No, surely not, he'd only just met her.

His eyes flicked back to the door and Valkyrie had the strangest urge to scream, gag and laugh all at once. _Good luck to her_, she thought.

"Skulduggery?" Valkyrie asked.

"Yes?"

"How many bullets can you get into your pockets?"

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the two girls returned, and Fletcher let out a low whistle. Azzalyth had pulled her thick, long hair into a high ponytail that swayed a little every time she took a step, and Braelyn had pulled her unruly hair into a tight braid. They were wearing the same clothes, and for the first time, Valkyrie couldn't see any evidence that Braelyn had jumped into a puddle. Why she would do such a thing at the end of winter was beyond Valkyrie's range of comprehension.<p>

Azzalyth had her boots done up tight, as Braelyn had with her high-top Converses. Braelyn's jeans and shirt looked as if they'd been washed or something, but it was probably just a spare set. She'd thrown on a hoodie that was two sizes too large. It was black with a white, almost floral pattern, but it didn't look girly. It nearly looked… punk. It was done up, so they couldn't see the bulge around her waist properly.

Azzalyth had a slight bulge over each shoulder, but it was hardly noticeable, so they didn't mention it. She was also holding something in her left hand.

Blades. One looked about ten inches long, the other was about seven. They looked like they strapped around someone's arms, just below the elbow and just above the wrist. But the straps looked far too small for her…

Carma. They had to be hers.

"All right, Shroom. Let's go kick some grass."

"Oh, Braelyn," Azzalyth said, smiling. "You crack me up."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, what did we think? I reckon it's not one of my best chapters, but it kind of works.**

**Anyway, another cliffhanger! I'm getting good at these :) Oh, and did anyone guess that last quote? Review, leave the name of the movie and who said it and I'll send you a batch of virtual cookies. Actually, I baked some today, but they've probably all been eaten by now.**** Onto other things...**

**Once again (sadly) this chapter would not have come to life without my dearest friend Carma Bain Bentley helping me out and giving me tips. **

**And I must say, a great big THANK YOU to my reviewers:**

**~Onyx Shadows**

**~Carma Bain Bentley  
><strong>

**~Secretmuch**

**YA'LL ARE AWESOME!**

**Love you all, guys. Update ASAP, okay?**


	7. Searching For Answers

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7. Searching For Answers<strong>

A quick ring of laughter rang back through the small group, and Skulduggery stepped forwards. "Shall we go?"

Valkyrie hesitated. "Do we know where we're going?"

"Ah," Skulduggery said. "I've been pondering that. Azzalyth," he asked, turning to her, "you said the area around the Bentley was a dead zone?"

"Is that a statement or a question?"

"Well, what if we take the evidence _outside_ the dead zone?"

Silence.

"Well," she said, doubtful. "It _might_ work. I mean, we'd have to get far away from the Bentley. It's giving me a pretty strong dead zone. I can't get anything connected to it; I'm just seeing what the dead can manage to show me, and even they're pretty sparse at the moment."

"Excellent," Skulduggery said, clapping his gloved hands together. "Shall we try it?"

Azzalyth nodded, then turned and started walking. She walked _fast_.

"Valkyrie, could you go get me a damp paper towel?"

"Sure," she replied, and disappeared inside the house.

"Braelyn, since this is blood, do you think you could get a past reading off of it? You know, like how you can see people's past by touching them?"

She was even more doubtful than Azzalyth. "I could try. I'm not making any promises."

After a brief nod from Skulduggery, she turned on her heel and sprinted off after Azzalyth. "Hey, wait up!"

"Do you want us to do anything, Skulduggery?" asked Ghastly.

"Not yet," he responded, trying to keep himself from touching the blood. There was something about it…

"Here," Valkyrie said quietly, handing over a paper towel that had been folded into quarters and had a few drops of water dribbled on it.

Ever so carefully, Skulduggery wiped up the blood, trying not to smear it on his car. It had dried and was a little difficult to pry up, but after a good five or six minutes of working, his Bentley was clean and shining again, and the pristine paper towel was mottled a dark red.

He looked over to the girls and found them standing no less than two hundred metres away. "So far?" he asked himself.

By the time he reached them, Azzalyth was tapping her foot impatiently. "You didn't tell me it was blood."

"I noticed that."

"Dammit Skulduggery, this is no time for jokes! Lucifer is a madman! He's professional, clean. No-one can ever catch him. All that you can find is 'missing person' reports and bodies. No hints, no clues. Nothing. Most of the time, the bodies are mangled and ruined beyond recognition anyway, and there's never a shred of evidence on them! Why would he suddenly leave a dollop of blood on top of your car?"

Skulduggery's head tilted. "Are you really taking that tone with me?" he asked her firmly.

"Yes, I am! This blood? It's a trap, Skulduggery! He's expecting us. He must have wiped our memories for a reason. He wants us to go to him, but I don't understand why he won't let us remember about Carma! He's got something planned."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Her hands crossed over her chest and reached up to her opposite shoulders and she clutched at something quickly before dropping her hands. "I don't know," she said quietly. "But I can't let you four come in with me and Braelyn. This is our fight. When we find out where we need to go, we just need to get there. I never should have dragged you all into this."

The other three had teleported up when they heard Azzalyth's raised voice. Fletcher reached out his hand to put it on her shoulder, but she jerked back. His arm – and his face – plummeted.

"You've been nothing but kind to us. I can't put you in danger you probably won't come out of."

Valkyrie snorted. "Danger? Please, I've gone a whole four days without doing something dangerous. This sounds perfect."

Azzalyth glared for a split second before Braelyn put a hand on her arm. "Azzalyth, we _need_ help."

She took a deep breath. "Okay," she said quietly, slumping. "Okay. But if we tell you all to teleport out of there, no questions asked, okay?"

Valkyrie grinned. "Deal. Just make sure you don't tell us to, okay?"

* * *

><p>Carma's eyes sprang open. Lucifer was lying next to her, his breathing deep and even, one arm thrown carelessly across her stomach. He was asleep.<p>

Afraid to wake him, Carma moved only her eyes as she looked around, trying to find a way out. A throbbing in her wrists and ankles told her that the metal shackles had broken through her skin, and the exposed flesh was rubbing against the cold steel.

Straining her eyes, and giving herself a whopping headache on top of everything else, her gaze moved around the room, attempting to focus on every dark corner, every change in the texture of the dark red walls. She found what she was looking for almost directly at the foot of the bed. A small table, and on it was a single key. She guessed the door was somewhere beyond that, hidden in the gloom.

She knew that would have been it. One way in, one way out.

"Planning your valiant escape?"

Carma started; she hadn't noticed any difference whatsoever. His breathing remained the same, and due to her inability to read him, his mental signature stayed stubbornly silent.

"I noticed your breathing changed. You woke up."

Damn. So he'd been awake the whole time.

"Ready for some games?" he asked.

She whimpered, and he stood.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

* * *

><p>Azzalyth and Braelyn dropped to the ground, their legs crossed, and they clasped their hands in the centre of them, holding the paper towel.<p>

Their eyes closed, and the wind around them stilled eerily, as if they were deflecting it with magic. Not a movement interrupted them, not a hair stirred, not a critter crawled within a two foot radius of them.

"What's going on?" asked Fletcher. "I'm getting impatient…"

"Wow," Valkyrie said. "Another big word. That makes two in a day."

"Oh, shut up."

Azzalyth opened a single eye and glared at them, and they both took Fletcher's advice and quieted down.

Braelyn was breathing deeply; Skulduggery could almost _see_ the air flooding in and out of her nose. She was seconds off hyperventilating, and her chest was heaving. The thoughts inside her head seemed almost visible. Skulduggery briefly wondered how long this was going to take when she slumped, her body relaxing.

"It's him… It's definitely Lucifer. He snuck up on us when we were all unconscious. He took her… picked her up, put her in the back of a car. He locked her in the boot and drove off. I… I can see him taking her, but her face is blurred… I can't focus on it. I don't know what she looks like."

She let out a sigh of frustration. "I just can't get a read on her. From the moment he dropped the blood it goes blank… I can't see where he's gone, just a few minutes before the blood fell."

Ghastly interrupted; he had to. "So, wait, he took Carma, put her in the boot of a car and _came back_? Why would he do that?"

"To block any sort of psychic signatures he or Carma may have left behind," Azzalyth explained. "But that still doesn't explain why he left the blood. If he had time to return to the Bentley to block it, he would have had time to wipe up a little blood."

"Because he _wants_ us to find him," Braelyn whispered. "I don't know why, but I can't tell that much."

This perplexed everyone, But Azzalyth sighed impatiently. "I already _knew_ that, Braelyn. Can you tell anything else? See his plans? Ulterior motive?"

Braelyn shook her head, her eyes scrunching up. "Nothing. It's run me dry," she told everyone, yawning. Azzalyth gave her hand a quick squeeze, and they both returned to their original positions, upright and concentrating hard.

Skulduggery could see the tension radiating through both of them, and he could see Azzalyth's muscled tightening and twitching under her skin. He couldn't imagine the amount of concentration she'd need to have to focus like that.

Her hands suddenly clenched on the paper towel, and Braelyn gasped at the sudden pressure exerted on her fingers. "Azzalyth?" she whispered.

"I've got something…" she said quietly. Her voice was distant, as if she was speaking from a great distance away. In her mind, however, she was miles away, alongside the man who'd left a drop of blood on Skulduggery's car.

"I can see… a warehouse. It's old… decrepit… but I'm heading past it. You'd think it'd be in there, but no… I can hear the ocean… It seems far away. I don't know where I am, but there are lots of houses around me. They're all run down, old. There's a pond far away. It's… dark. Just looking at it is making me cold. The trees… withered and dying…"

Fletcher stiffened. He'd figured it out.

"I can't see much… It's all dark and gloomy, it's hard to focus. Here we are… I'm entering a building. It's bigger than the other ones, but overall it's still a pretty small building… Oh… It's not the one floor. It's got stairs going everywhere, hidden behind walls; I can sense them. I'm… heading through winding corridors… They're hardly lit. It's so dark, and cold."

Her eyes sprang open. "No," she whispered. "No, it can't be…"

Skulduggery spoke, his voice hard. "Oh, yes."

Ghastly seemed to be in a state of shock. "But… how? I don't get it."

Valkyrie, on the other hand, was confused. "That's what I want to know. How would he get her in and out without attracting notice?"

Fletcher was pale. "Really? He's that brave? He'd do it that close to home?"

Braelyn took a deep, shuddering breath. "He wants to prove to us how powerful he is, that he can do it under out very noses. It's disgusting."

Azzalyth stood, pulling her hands from Braelyn's and crushing the paper towel in her hand. "The bastard."

Her coat swirled around her as some sort of energy danced through the air, throwing her ponytail around and whipping at the exposed skin of the other five. "Azzalyth!" Braelyn shouted. "Calm down!"

She whipped her head around and glared, but as she took in the expression on Braelyn's face, her own softened and the unnatural power melted.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Her expression turned hard again, and she looked up at the sky. "But I'm going to kill him."

Skulduggery had to take a step back, his hand inching towards his gun. Any sudden movements and he'd pull it out and pull the trigger. She may have been human, but she certainly wasn't a _normal_ human. God knew what she could do without even meaning to, and with she sort of power she'd displayed at her fingertips, willing or no, she could seriously injure or even kill someone and not even notice.

* * *

><p>Azzalyth stood, her hands clenching unnecessarily hard. One hand held the paper towel, spotted with blood, but the other one clenched shut on itself, her nails immediately digging through her skin and causing a dribble of blood to appear through her fingers.<p>

What she was feeling was hard to describe in words. _No-one_ hurt her friends and got away with it. _No-one_ touched them and was permitted to live. She may not remember her friends face, but the imprint of the memories of the good times they'd shared together were something no one could forget.

Azzalyth's protectiveness swelled within her. When they'd started their trip to Ireland, she's promised both Braelyn's and Carma's family she would protect them with her life. She knew it. She wouldn't have promised one family comfort and not have bothered with another. The rage and loneliness and misery and fear fought within her, each trying to become the dominant emotion.

The rage won out, and she felt something stir within her, a primal protectiveness and caring that anyone would have for family. Carma and Braelyn were close enough to be sisters to her, and the familial love welled up and exploded.

She couldn't control it; something was playing with her emotions, tugging at her heart, begging her to save this faceless girl, and she gave in. The power swelled and burst, a wave of psychic energy so strong it became a physical being, moving her coat and hair around in an invisible breeze.

The others looked at her with almost nothing but fear and she didn't care. This bitch that hurt Carma was going to _pay_, and pay _bad_.

"Azzalyth," came a voice from down beside her, distant, urgent. She may have been screaming and Azzalyth wouldn't have noticed. "Calm down."

She turned her head to find Braelyn cowering away from her. She could see the outright terror on the girl's face and made a decision. If she let her emotions get the better of her like that she could end up hurting the only friend she had left.

The power leaked away, but the anger stayed. She wasn't letting it go, but for Braelyn's sake she would appear calm, though on the inside she was screaming and tearing up everything that was left.

"I'm sorry," she said. She hadn't meant to scare her like that. Her resolve hardened her again. "But I'm going to kill him."

Skulduggery stepped back, his hand going to his gun, she knew it.

"Well," he said, straightening slightly. "Are we going?"

Everyone nodded, but none of them were brave enough to look away from Azzalyth.

"Well, then," he said, holding an arm out to Fletcher. "To the Sanctuary, Mr Renn."

He nodded fiercely, and everyone linked arms. They teleported.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Cliffhanger! I feel like making up a little song about cliffhangers. I probably shouldn't do that though. But I might. Right after I expel this Leprechaun from my cat's left ear.**

**(To the tune of Taio Cruz's "_Hangover_")**

**You got a cliffhanger, wo-oh!**  
><strong> I've been thinking too much for sure<strong>  
><strong> You got a cliffhanger, wo-oh!<strong>  
><strong> I got bored and gave up<strong>

**YEAH!  
><strong>

**CLIFFHANGERS! YEAH!**

** Then I'll wake up the little hippo sleeping in my bed. *Sigh*. See what sleep deprivation does to me?**

**But anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter, as I do with every chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And Lucifer. What an ass. But I had to research as to where in Roarhaven they had put the Sanctuary, so I got out Mortal Coil and found a description, but I couldn't find the actual location. But that's how I know. And now I've spoiled the surprise. But anyway, SURPRISE!**

**So, I'll start on the next chapter and update when I have time. Review for me please! Tell me what you liked and dind't like and I'll see if I can tweak it to make it better. Constructive criticism is every writer's vice.**

**Until next time, my beauties!**


	8. Betrayal

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8. Betrayal<strong>

The Sanctuary.

Who would have guessed Lucifer was using the Sanctuary as his base of operations?

Ghastly had an absurd impulse to order the Cleavers to tear the place apart. He couldn't understand it. He'd been there for years, ever since he'd been elected as an Elder, and never once had he heard of these stairs behind walls that Azzalyth was talking about.

Granted, it was the Torment who insisted that the Sanctuary was based in Roarhaven, so he'd probably known all along about the secret passageways and hidden paths. That was probably why he suggested it, so that he could get in and out without being seen by Sanctuary officials.

Ghastly Bespoke, despite his age and wisdom, found he had a lot to learn.

The instant they teleported back to the Sanctuary, he started striding forwards at such a pace that even Skulduggery and Azzalyth (who was an extremely fast walker) had trouble keeping up with him. The Cleavers standing guard let him in, but moved to block everyone else.

Ghastly help up his hand. "Let them pass."

The Cleavers turned their heads, but didn't say anything and they didn't move. "I said let them pass!"

"They're under orders to let no-one in or out except the Elders by the Grand Mage himself. You cannot overrule him, Bespoke," came a voice from behind him.

Ghastly didn't have to look back to know who it was. His expression darkened. "Torment. How did you get here?"

"Why, Ghastly," he hissed mockingly, "I thought you could have figured that out. With the Vault's defences down, the artefacts have been transferred here. The Sanctuary went into immediate lockdown. That _must_ mean I've been here all along."

Braelyn shook her head. "No you haven't. I saw you standing outside of our hotel. I'd recognize you anywhere."

"Do not question me, insolent brat!"

"But it's true," Azzalyth piped in. "I saw you too. Two days ago. You were standing there and watching the entrance. We had to walk right past you to get in."

"Lies!' he hissed.

Ghastly glared at him, and the Torment shied away. Ghastly's scars gave him a menacing look that no-one could equal. "I'm going to get Erskine. I'll _make_ him let them in. He knows he can trust Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and even _Fletcher_ to some degree."

"Ah, but can he trust the whelps?"

"Why you–"

Skulduggery launched himself forwards and took hold of one arm that was coming up over her head. Valkyrie took the other one, and Braelyn jumped in front of her, hands on her chest, helping hold her back. Her bulk really _was_ muscle.

She started moving forwards, even against their restraining hands, so Fletcher joined in, moving forwards and wrapping his hands around her waist.

"Let me go!" she hissed.

"No!" Braelyn hissed right back. "I know you're angry, Azzalyth, but you have to calm down! If you screw this up, we won't get in at all!"

She looked Braelyn in the eye for a second, and her body relaxed. Skulduggery's grip eased a bit, but he didn't let her go like Valkyrie did. Braelyn nodded and stepped back, but Fletcher kept his arms around her and tugged her back, towards him, away from the Cleavers.

"It's okay," he murmured to her quietly. "We'll get in."

She let her breath out angrily. "I know we'll get in eventually," she said, worming her way out of his embrace, "but I want to get in _now_."

"Calm down," he said. He was stung, but was hiding it well. "We'll get in, we'll get Carma, and we'll get out. Problem solved."

Her hands clenched, and her right hand, covered in dried blood, started bleeding again. There was a sharp intake of breath, and she opened her hand, looking at the small gouges her nails had left in her palm. "Shit."

Fletcher, ignoring the blood, took her hand. "I'm taking you back to Skulduggery's. You're going to wash that out, disinfect it, and wrap it up. Got that?"

Before she even had time to open her mouth to protest, he'd teleported her away.

Braelyn blinked at the empty space. "Is he always like that?"

Valkyrie shook her head. "I've never seen him act like this before. We dated a few years ago, but it took him a while to warm up to me like that. Of course, once he did, he wouldn't leave me alone."

Braelyn clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "Azzalyth doesn't need people taking care of her. Actually, she's always the one looking after other people. She's like a caretaker. We need something; she's the one we turn to. Sometimes I think she gets sick of it, but she always puts on a smile and tries to help."

"Good luck taking care of Fletcher," Valkyrie said. "He's like a toddler in an adult's body."

Braelyn started after the spot where her friend had vanished. "I think he's grown up more than you realize."

* * *

><p>"You really need to take better care of yourself," Fletcher told her as she ran her hand under warm water in the kitchen sink.<p>

Azzalyth turned her head, her ponytail swaying down past her shoulder blades, caressing her leather coat. "How would you know how well I take care of myself? I only met you today."

He smiled. "I just know. You're one of those people that will put everyone else's comfort before her own."

Azzalyth looked away.

"You know," she said quietly, "friends are like family to me. I love them all to death. I'd give my life for every single one of them. That's why it pisses me off when something like this happens." Her shoulders slumped and she hung her head. "I can't help but blame myself. I feel like it's my fault; I should have protected her, and I failed."

"Hey," he murmured, standing and walking to stand beside her. "It's not your fault, okay? You couldn't have done anything. From what I heard, you were completely unconscious."

"I can't help it," she whispered. "Before we left Australia, I promised her family that I would take care of her. The same with Braelyn. It was the least I could do."

Fletcher wasn't sure he wanted to hear more. "I'm not quite sure I get what you mean."

Azzalyth took an extremely deep breath and looked up, tears in her eyes. "My family were all killed a few months ago. Someone broke in while they were sleeping and massacred them. No-one was ever convicted, or even suspected. I was out. Braelyn, Carma and I were at the bowling alley, actually. I waited for my mother to pick me up, but she never showed. I called the home phone; no answer.

"I decided to spend the night at Braelyn's house. It wasn't anything new; we often stayed at each other's houses with no advanced warning like that. I called again the next day. Once again, I had no answer. My brother was always up by about seven, on the computer which is right next to the phone. I knew something was wrong.

"Braelyn's mother drove me home. She dropped me off at the front of my house. She had to get home; her youngest daughter, Hunta, was asleep. She's only two. I went inside and found them."

Fletcher took a step back when he noticed her. She was shaking, sobbing, and gasping for air all at once. He hadn't noticed. He'd been caught up in the story.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't know."

Azzalyth wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, letting the jacket fall back and expose her tanned arm. "It's okay," she said, trying to smile. "You didn't know. How could you have known?"

The water was still going, forgotten while Azzalyth took her and from the stream and wrapped it up in paper towels to dry it. Fletcher rested one of his hands gently on her shoulder; she flinched.

Using the paper towel, Azzalyth dried her eyes and tried to smile, but she wouldn't look him in the face.

Fletcher snapped. He knew she wasn't faking this; he _just knew_. Like he had some sort of connection to her. He held his arms out and stepped forwards, pulling her into a hug. She started shaking again as the sobs wracked her frame, and Fletcher just pulled her in closer.

* * *

><p>Carma, for the first time in hours, smiled. They were coming for her. They knew who she was. They hadn't forgotten, she could sense it. Lucifer blinked and leaned back a little looking at the feral, almost savage grin on her face.<p>

"You see?" he murmured softly. "I knew you'd come around."

"No," she hissed. "I haven't _come around_. I know they're here. It's over."

Sheer terror fleeted across his handsome featured. "Impossible. I was assured that there is no possible way they could enter here. You're bluffing."

"You'll see," Carma chanted. "You'll see. You'll see. You're wrong. You'll see."

He recomposed himself. "No, my dear. _You_ will see. No-one is going to save you."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, Azzalyth had disinfected her hand and wrapped it up tightly in a bandage, leaving her fingers unbound, and Fletcher teleported them back to the Sanctuary.<p>

Braelyn immediately rand to her and threw her arms around her neck. "Azzalyth! What, did you try to drown yourself of something?"

Azzalyth laughed and shook her head. "No, it just took longer than I thought it would to get the dirt out."

"You're lying."

Azzalyth froze. "What are you talking about?"

Braelyn stepped back, frowning. "Your heartbeat went through the roof. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"I'm telling you, Braelyn, nothing happened."

"Tell me the _truth_."

Azzalyth sighed. "No."

"So something _did_ happen."

Valkyrie moved forwards quickly. "Fletcher, what did you do to her?"

He looked shocked. "What? I didn't do anything. Why are you all blaming me?"

"What happened?"

Azzalyth puffed up, becoming defensive. "Nothing happened! I'm fine, really!"

Braelyn reached forwards and put a few cool fingers on Azzalyth's scorching cheek. "You've been crying."

"What? Fletcher, what did you do to her?"

"I've told you, nothing!"

Valkyrie's expression darkened dramatically and she summoned fire to one hand and shadows to another. "Tell me. And don't even think about lying."

Azzalyth jumped in front of him. "Don't hurt him." She sighed. "You want to know what happened? Okay. I'll tell you. I remembered the night I found my family, okay? You happy now?" Her voice broke on the last word.

Braelyn froze. "Oh," she whispered. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Once again, she threw her arms around Azzalyth, standing on her toes. Azzalyth buried her face in her friend's neck and shook for a moment. She took a shaky breath and looked up. "I'm alright. I'm fine."

Valkyrie wasn't sure who she was trying to convince – them or herself.

* * *

><p>Ghastly Bespoke stormed into the Grand Mage's office and slammed the door shut behind him. "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted.<p>

Erskine Ravel's gaze traveled up from his bookwork to look at the enraged Elder standing in front of him.

"Do you mind, Ghastly? I'm working here."

"Don't you give me that. What's this about? Why are Skulduggery and Valkyrie not permitted inside the Sanctuary? They have urgent business that must be performed now. You have to let them in!"

Erskine blinked. "But they are allowed in, Ghastly. I did say that they were permitted entrance. They're a very valuable asset to have."

"What?" Ghastly asked. "But the Cleavers won't let them pass. They can't get in. Torment said that you ordered only Elders were permitted in and out at the moment."

Erskine stood, confusion flashing across his face. "I said no such thing."

"Well then, why can't they get in?"

Erskine moved from around the desk. "Lead the way, Ghastly."

Minutes later, they were back at the entrance to the Sanctuary, and the Torment was gone.

"Let them pass," Erskine ordered.

Once again, the Cleavers didn't move.

"They won't do that," the Torment's voice said, echoing around them. "You no longer have their alliance. They belong to me now."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: GOOD MORNING, MY BEAUTIES! Or afternoon, now. Yep, 12:01!**

**Yes, I will admit it. Sleep deprivation again. This time I do believe it was because Carma Bain Bentley was using my bed. Lazy bitch. Anyway, she decided it would be good to surprise me ( Ha. Ha.) and she showed up on my doorstep demanding food. And now she's complaining she's hungry. *Sigh*. She's been badgering me contantly, trying to get me to write, but all I really want to do is _read..._ I found this _awesome_ manga called Pandora Hearts and... Well, read it yourself I won't spoil it ;)**

**On another note, I once again enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.** **PLEASE, PLEASE review! I must say, I am dedicating this chapter to Onyx Shadows, for all her wonderful reviews :) You have no idea how much it means to an author to know their work is appreciated. A big batch of the most delicious virtual cookies are heading your way _right now_!  
><strong>

**Well, if I don't toddle off and start chapter 9, Carma will be about ready to kill me. I'm surprised she hasn't done it already, actually.**

**Ta ta!**


	9. Nightmares

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant. All characters, themes, actions and items taken from the books belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9. Nightmares<strong>

"Torment?" Erskine asked. "What's going on?"

The Cleavers drew their scythes and as one turned to face Ghastly and Erskine, the other started towards Skulduggery and the others.

"Torment!" Erskine shouted. "Dammit, this isn't funny! Stop this at once!"

"Kill them."

The Cleavers sprang into action. They were outclassed, but within seconds, they were joined by more, and they had Azzalyth, Fletcher and Braelyn to protect.

"Fletcher! Get them out of here!"

Fletcher nodded quickly to Valkyrie's command, but Azzalyth and Braelyn shook their heads and stepped away. "Oh, _hell_ no," Azzalyth said, smiling. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. Let's face it, Skulduggery. You need help here."

"I do not!" he shouted back. But he knew he was lying to himself. There were a total of six Cleavers now, more on their way, and their skills were unbelievable. He dodged a swipe for one's scythe, but stumbled back into a second one.

It raised its scythe, ready to sever his bones, but he hurled a ball of fire at it and dodged – right into a third one.

Valkyrie, Erskine and Ghastly, occupied with their own sets, couldn't help him.

But Azzalyth could.

There was a sound of metal-on-metal, and Azzalyth launched herself into the onslaught. Skulduggery looked up to see her with two curved short swords, one in each hand. They were crossed in an 'X', stopping the Cleaver's scythe only a few inches away from her face. She smiled.

"I've missed this," she hissed, and threw the Cleaver away from her. She twirled her swords quickly and sprinted forwards, bringing one down in a quick motion, then spinning away and returning, bringing the hilt of the other one down on its helmet.

The helmet crumpled, and the Cleaver stayed down.

"One down," she said, "seven to go."

Braelyn gave a hysterical laugh and pulled the zip open on her hoodie, revealing a dozen short throwing knives strapped to her waist. She pulled two of them out, took aim, and let them loose.

One skimmed past Azzalyth's shoulder, rotating straight over it. If it had been half a rotation off, it would have sliced into her flesh.

It struck the Cleaver in the shoulder, penetrating its armour and letting a trickle or bright red blood dribble down the boring grey, while the other struck the first and forced it further into the Cleaver's flesh. Azzalyth finished it quickly.

Another Cleaver came out of nowhere and towered over her from behind. There wasn't time to shout warning. Skulduggery hurled fire at it, but it extinguished on the Cleaver's armour. Azzalyth, however, felt the flash of heat and ducked, rolling, bringing her swords up in a defensive cross like she had just before.

Skulduggery stood, lunging at it, colliding with it square in the back and sent it rolling. Its scythe flipped with it, and it scraped down the side of Azzalyth's face, running along her cheekbone. She hissed, and spun to her feet, leaping forwards and plunging her right-hand blade into the Cleavers chest.

"There's three," she said, pulling back. Her chest was heaving. She glanced up to meet Skulduggery's empty eye sockets, and he saw something in them, something… other. It' wasn't natural.

Another one of Braelyn's throwing knives felled another Cleaver, and Azzalyth span, running to help Valkyrie with hers.

Azzalyth jumped from a meter and a half away and severed the Cleaver's head from its body.

She spun, an inhuman laugh tearing from her chest, and everyone saw it. Azzalyth changed.

Not physically, no; but there was something about her, something that crackled around her like static electricity. It toyed with her, twisting and contorting her until there didn't seem to be anything human left in her.

She was something else. Something animal.

A quick thought of _What the hell have I gotten myself into_? flashed across Skulduggery's mind before he saw her take out another Cleaver.

"Fletcher! Get her away from here! We can take care of the rest!" Valkyrie screamed at him.

Fletcher nodded, pure terror radiating from him as he moved. Braelyn threw another knife, took out another Cleaver, leaving only one left, and she sprinted forwards to pick up her knives, then hurried over to Fletcher.

"Take my hand," Braelyn said. "If anyone but me touches her now she'll kill them without blinking." Fletcher nodded and they started forwards. "On three," Braelyn panted, edging closer. "One… two… three!"

She lunged forwards and snagged a hold of Azzalyth's wrist, and they teleported.

* * *

><p>"What the hell was that?" Ghastly panted after they'd finished the last Cleaver and had started cleaning up.<p>

"I don't know," Skulduggery said uncertainly. "I've never seen that before."

"I have," Valkyrie said darkly. "I've _experienced_ it. It's almost identical to what happens to me when Darquesse takes over." Naturally, after the last show down between Darquesse and Lord Vile, Erskine and Ghastly had had to be told.

"But that can't be possible… can it?" This from Erskine, who was taking the decapitated head of a Cleaver and throwing it on a pile of bodies.

"I don't know," Valkyrie said darkly. "I don't think it's anything to do with her true name. More like something in her past triggered a violent reaction."

"And violent it was," Skulduggery muttered.

* * *

><p>"<em>Thank you," Azzalyth said cheerfully, smiling at Braelyn through the car window. "I'm sure they're all just asleep. I'll call you later, okay? And I'll have those photos printed for school tomorrow."<em>

"_Sure. Bye, Azzalyth. Love you," Braelyn said, leaning though the window to give her a hug._

"_Love you more," Azzalyth said, giving her a quick squeeze, "Thanks for letting me stay, Evelyn," she said, waving to Braelyn's mum._

"_Anytime, darl. Hunta was glad to see you."_

"_And I love you most," Braelyn said quickly, shooting Azzalyth a cheeky grin._

"_Not possible," Azzalyth said blandly. "See you tomorrow."_

"_Okay. Bye!"_

_Azzalyth laughed, watching her best friend stick her head out the window and poke her tongue out at her as she drove off. Azzalyth waved until they were out of sight._

"_Silly girl," she muttered to herself, turning on her heel and climbing the four front steps, checking the front door. It was locked, but that was normal. Shrugging, Azzalyth walked around to the side door. This one was looked too._

_That most definitely _wasn't_ normal._

"_Okay," Azzalyth muttered to herself. "Maybe Mum accidentally locked it."_

_She hurried around to the back door. The screen door was locked, but the glass door was open. _

_Something was wrong._

"_Mum? Dad?"_

_She got no answer, and was getting worried. Someone was normally up by midday. They couldn't _all_ have slept in, surely?_

_Maybe her brother was playing a trick on her. Locking her out of the house. "Mattayas? Open the door, this isn't funny."_

_But when no seventeen-year-old appeared, laughing at her, the terror set in._

Something. Was. Wrong.

_She beat on the screen door, and it threatened to burst off._

"_Let me in!"_

_Panic dulled her wits, but she knew how to get in. The same thing had happened when someone in the street was robbed. They'd locked the doors for about a week, and about three days in, she forgot her keys._

_She turned to the half-length window next to the door, and pulled the fly screen out, leaning it against the wall. She braced her hand against a chair that they still had to find a place for and hoisted herself through the thin opening. She turned quickly and replaced it the screen, unlocked the door. Stopped, listened._

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

_A meow pierced the almost-silence. So, at least the cat was here._

_Maybe someone had left a tap on… But that noise was coming from her parent's bedroom._

_She opened the door._

* * *

><p>Azzalyth screamed, thrashed, fought against the hands holding her down.<p>

"What's happening?" Fletcher shouted above her.

Braelyn knelt on the bed next to her best friend, pinned her left arm down with all her weight. "She's remembering!"

"Do something!" Fletcher said. "Help her!"

"My powers won't work now! She's remembering something real – not something the spirits are showing her. Her mind is completely blocked off to me! I can't get in!"

"I'm getting the others; maybe they can do something."

"Hurry!"

Fletcher nodded and vanished, and seconds later, the bedroom Valkyrie used when she slept over was crowded.

"What's going on?" Skulduggery said, while they all ran forwards to restrain the screaming girl.

"She's remembering the day she found her family," Braelyn explained, "and I can't make her stop. This is a memory, not a vision. She's trapped, and I can't get her out."

Valkyrie shook and gasped when Azzalyth kneed her in the chest. "What do you mean, 'found her family'. Was she adopted?"

"No," Braelyn and Fletcher said in unison. Their eyes met and they nodded to each other. "She should tell you, if she wants to," he said.

"I knew it couldn't have been good when she showed up after crying, but it would help if we knew what was _causing_ this."

Braelyn rested one hand gently on her friend's sweaty forehead, smoothing her hair back.

"She still has nightmares about it. I would, too." Her voice was soft, quiet.

Fletcher took Azzalyth's hand and leaned down, whispering something in her ear. The screams quieted, the thrashing stopped. She stilled, but her muscles still twitched. "It's okay, Azzalyth," Braelyn cooed. Fletcher didn't stop whispering to her. "We're here, you're safe. Come back to us. You don't have to be there anymore. You will come to us, stay with us."

Her voice had taken on that hypnotizing quality again, and Azzalyth's eyes opened slowly. Tears immediately filled them and began to fall.

She pulled her arms free with surprising strength and wiped at her eyes. Braelyn hugged her and held her close while she sobbed.

"It was…" she started. She tried again. "It was so _clear_ this time. I could see _everything_."

"Shhh," Braelyn soothed. "You don't have to see it anymore. You're with me now."

"See what?" Skulduggery asked.

She shook her head. "Do you want me to tell them?" Fletcher asked.

She nodded, and he stood, motioning for them all to leave the room.

"It was a few months ago…" he started.

_This is going to be fun_, he thought sarcastically.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, well. Azzalyth is now officially insane. Granted, anyone probably would be if that happened to them.**

**I finally have my own bed all to myself! No little hippo (who I love, by the way,) no bitchy Carma, no fat and lazy cat! And it shows! I've gotten _heaps_ of sleep! The one problem: Pandora Hearts. I love manga. I really do. Pandora Hearts, Elfin Lied, Bleach, Vampire Knight and a couple others. I can't stop reading! But At least I got this done. I was multitasking until past midnight last night (this morning?) and was reading, talking on the phone, having three conversations on Facebook, writing, listening to music and talking to myself all at once.**

**I'm a woman. Multitasking comes naturally to me.**

**Anyway, I like this chapter. It gives us all a glimpse into Azzalyth's past and shows off her epic fighting skills. I'll probably put more flashbacks in later. They'll all be in _italics,_ just so you all know.**

**I HAVE TERRIBLE NEWS. I have to away to my aunt's house for I think it's four days, with NO INTERNET! I will make sure I have two or maybe even three chapters for you next time I update, okay? I'm so SORRY!**

**Well, off to read and write for a while. Until next time!**

**LOVE YOU ALL! XOXO**


	10. Warning

**DISCLAIMER: You want one? Read the other chapters. I've given up.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10. Warning<strong>

"You're not serious. I hope?" Skulduggery asked. "I mean, her finding her family massacred? That's a sick joke, Fletcher."

"It's not a joke," Braelyn told them, coming out of the room. "She didn't show up to school the next day, didn't call. I got worried and went to check on her."

Valkyrie was almost afraid to ask. "What happened?"

"I found her in her parents room, covered in blood."

There was a sharp intake of breath. "So, that was it? You just walked in and found her?"

"Well, I screamed, of course. They were like my second family. If I ever needed time away from my mum and step-dad I'd just get on the bus with her in the afternoon, send my mum a text, and that'd be it. It was... it was horrible. Azzalyth hasn't been the same since."

"What do you mean?"

Braelyn sighed, thinking. "She's been... hard. She was always caring, sweet... someone to look after you, and I'm not saying she still isn't," she added hurriedly, "but it's like no-one can reach her anymore. It's like she's closed off that part of her heart. I think she's afraid of losing anyone like that again.

"And she became really overprotective. Not just of me, of anyone around her. Anyone that she even remotely cares about. She hates seeing people fighting. It's like... I don't know... She's terrified of seeing anyone she cares about get hurt."

"She caused enough carnage at the Sanctuary today," Erskine said slowly. "Are you sure you mean that?"

"Certain. She did it to protect us all. You've all been kind to her, and I was there. I've seen her lose control before when we were ambushed when we were walking home once, but I've never seen her like that. She would've fought until she dropped if there was any danger around. See what I mean by overprotective?"

Fletcher had his lips pressed tightly shut. "Should I go in and see her?"

Braelyn shook her head. "She's resting now. I'll give her an hour or two, then we have to go and find Carma. The sooner we get her back, the better."

* * *

><p><em>Azzalyth was dreaming.<em>

_She was surprised the dream was so peaceful, considering the memory she had just experienced. It was like it had been all but blocked from her mind, like no matter how hard she tried to access it, it would just slip out of reach, and she'd have to start searching for it all over again. Then she'd find it again, and once more, it would run away._

_It was like someone was keeping her from remembering. Now that she thought about it, she didn't even know what she was supposed to be remembering. There was a voice, a soft and beautiful voice, telling her to keep away, like it was something she'd rather forget. Like it wasn't worth the pain entailed with remembering._

_She was sitting in a green field. Her legs were crossed, and she was relaxed. She looked around to find flowers of every colour coming into bloom around her. She smiled. _This_ was what life should have been like. _This_ was what she wanted. She wanted everyone to be able to see it. She threw her head back and laughed, the warm, golden rays of the sun soaking into her, and she stood. With a smile on her face, she headed down the gentle slope, towards the trees that were blocking the view of another field._

_Her strides were long but slow, and she savoured the feeling of the soft grass beneath her feet. She spun around a few times, holding her arms out, loving the warmth that caressed her face, and seconds later, she broke through the trees._

_She froze._

_There was a figure standing in the centre of the field. She knew who it was, even with her back turned. She'd loved, been loved, hugged, spoken to and sobbed her heart out to this woman for fifteen years._

_"Mum," she whispered. The short figure turned slowly, a smile in her blue eyes. Azzalyth had taken after her father in almost all physical aspects, but she had her mother's love and kindness overflowing from her heart. She started forwards, walking quickly, then broke out into a full sprint, and threw her arms around her mother's stout form and let her tears trickle into her mother's short, curly brown hair._

_She may not have been the most physically beautiful person in the world, but anyone could see Azzalyth's mother was the kindest person you could lay eyes on._

_"The grass is definitely greener over here," Azzalyth said, smiling._

_"But it's much harder to mow," her mother finished. Azzalyth smiled at the old joke they used to share, but she didn't have time to savour it._

_"Azzalyth, honey, listen to me." The smile had vanished._

_Azzalyth's smile faded, replaced with confusion. "Mum? What's wrong?"_

_"A storm is coming. The dagger has been taken. A revolt is on the horizon. You must get Carma back and stop it before it's all too late."_

_"Mum, stop it. I don't get what you mean."_

_Azzalyth's mother dug her hands tightly into Azzalyth's shoulders. "I haven't got much time. _He's_ coming. He'll throw me out. You _must_ stop him. He's going to destroy everything."_

_"Mum, you're scaring me. What's going on? Who is _he_? What does he want?"_

_The dream started dissolving. The flowers wilted, a dark liquid dripping from the dead petals. Colour slowly leaked out, replaced with a sepia tone, the only colour the blood that was soaking the grass and dripping from the flowers._

_"Mum, what's happening?"_

_"You know who he is. Stop him."_

_"Mum!" Azzalyth looked up from the grass, terror flooding through her, to see her mother falling to pieces. Gashes and wounds opened on her body, and she fell. "MUM!"_

_Azzalyth sprinted forwards, slipping and stumbling on the gore staining the field. Azzalyth faltered and fell to her knees._

No.

_She recognized this. The way her mother had fallen._

_She knew all the lacerations on her body, the wounds almost... _decorating _her flesh. She knew before they appeared where the next ones would show. She pressed her bloodstained hands to her mother's figure, trying to hold her together._

_She knew what would happen next._

_The dream was dissolving, falling apart around her._

_Just like her life._

_Her mother's heart found its way out of her chest, then started forcing its way into her mouth._

_The dream exploded, blood flying everywhere, her mother's form fading fast. Laughter echoes around her, manic, dangerous... familiar._

* * *

><p>Azzalyth woke up, shaking. She threw herself upright, throwing off the covers, curling in on herself. She'd exhausted her supply of tears before she fell asleep, and she retched.<p>

She'd thought once the police had taken it all away she'd never have to see it again, but there it was. Haunting her dreams, her memories. She started hyperventilating.

_What's happening to me_? she thought. She hadn't had a dream like that before. Mostly it was all just memories, flashbacks on what she had found.

There was a knock at the door, she looked up. She didn't trust her voice or her legs, so she just sat there and wiped the sweat from her brow. Her hands flew up to her hair, and she groaned. Quickly, she pulled out the three hair ties holding her thick brown hair in a mess above her head, and started running her fingers through it, before trying to tie her hair up.

"Are you awake?" Fletcher asked quietly, opening the door a crack.

"Yeah," she said, amazed at how calm and steady her voice was. It didn't crack or break at all.

He opened the door and stepped in, taking in her tear stained face, there smudges of dirt on her, and the smear of blood along her cheek. He reached out.

"Here," he said, "let me do that."

She nodded, keeping her face blank, and he took her hair and started smoothing it down. Her arms flopped down to her sides, and he realized that that she was probably using sheer willpower to keep her hands up.

"Do you have a hair tie?" he asked.

"Use the three of them," she instructed, "or my hair will never hold."

He nodded and pulled it tight, twisting the hair ties expertly around her thick ponytail before he let her hair fall.

"How often do you do that?" she asked him.

"I had a younger sister before I left home years ago. I used to do her hair for her before school every morning, and I did Valkyrie's hair a few times when we were dating."

"I was going to say, you seem really good." She grinned at him, but it seemed... empty. "Are you a closet gay?"

He had the grace to look affronted. "Of course not! I left the closet behind years ago!"

She laughed, and it seemed a little more realistic this time. "Of course you did, Fletcher, of course you did."

She gave him a hug and stood, then started heading out to the kitchen.

"Wait, Azzalyth." he started.

She whipped around with ungodly speed. "Yes?"

He lost his nerve. "You're going to want to wash your face. You look like you've just seen a ghost - and not a happy one at that."

She didn't smile, and gave him a look that could have made even Skulduggery tear up. "You don't know how right you are," she whispered.

* * *

><p>Azzalyth entered the kitchen, having cleaned her face and re-wrapped her hand. Skulduggery hadn't even seen any evidence that she was injured when she was fighting; it was as if she didn't even know her hand was bandaged.<p>

"Are you okay?" Ghastly asked her, before anyone could speak.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded absently. "I'm just... distracted."

_I know how that feels_, Skulduggery thought. The reason for his distraction was standing right next to him.

"Well," she said quickly. "Shall we go? I'm fine now - we have to get Carma as soon as possible."

Erskine let out a low whistle. "I know you want to get your friend back, Azzalyth, but the Torment has betrayed us. We'd have to fight our way through dozens of Cleavers to get into the Sanctuary."

"Braelyn can charm them," she stated.

Everyone froze for a second. It was so simple, so beautiful... so easy.

Too easy.

"Would she be able to control the minds of all of them at once?"

Braelyn scoffed. "Bitch, please," she drawled, flicking her wrist melodramatically. "I can charm a stadium full of idiotic fans if they can hear me."

"So it's settled then," Skulduggery said, clapping his hands merrily. "We invade the Sanctuary."

* * *

><p>Carma's spirit fell.<p>

She could sense them leaving, their mental signatures disappearing suddenly. She could _feel_ Azzalyth's rage, her grief, her madness. Insanity took hold of her friend and Carma automatically started shying away from her mind. She didn't want to feel that, to experience that.

She just wanted her friends to show up and save her.

Lucifer smiled, circling the bed. "You see? They're weak. They're leaving you for dead."

"Come over here and say that to my face, bitch."

He laughed. "Oh, Carma. Such spirit. It used to draw me to you, you know. Your fire. Your energy. Your zest. But now it's getting boring."

He pulled out a dagger. It was a beautiful weapon, shining, almost emitting its own light in the dark room. It looked extremely solid, a heavy silver with intricate gold detailing in the hilt. There was a complex pattern carved on the base of the blade, which looked too sharp to be real. An assortment of small jewels were inlaid into the handle, smoothed into the metal. If someone had a bare hand and were holding the dagger properly, every single jewel would come into contact with their skin.

Carma froze completely, eyeing the blade.

"How did you get that? I thought it was destroyed."

"Oh, so you know of this, do you? I'm not surprised. We all know of the Sadreopt Blade, now don't we?"

"Sapphire," Carma whispered, "amethyst, diamond, ruby, emerald, onyx, peridot and tourmaline. Yes, of course I know about it. I was the one who told you about it, remember?"

He laughed that sickening laugh of his. "Well, yes, I suppose I do remember now," he said. "Do you remember what it does?"

"Of course," she whispered, right before Lucifer brought it down over her chest, puncturing her skin, sawing through bone and embedding it in her heart.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: O.M.G. I just stabbed my best friend. Oh well, she deserved it :P**

**Well, in amongst the wedding I had to go to, the trying to find everything I'd left down at my aunt's house last time I was there and reading a book series Carma let me borrow, I got two chapters done. I've also been able to read FanFiction on my phone, but I haven't been able to log in. I don't know why it didn't let me, by there you go.**

**AND CARMA'S DEAD! Or is she?**

**I'll tell you what, actually stabbing her doesn't seem like such a bad idea sometimes :P Oh, shut up, Carma, you know I love you XD**

**Well, do me the biggest favor in the world and review for me... please? *puppy dog eyes***

**Onto uploading the next chapter! See you then, my beauties! Giddy up, Bullseye!**


	11. Kerosene and Matches

**DISCLAIMER: I've given you enough disclaimers to last a lifetime. Read chapters 1-9 if you're really looking for one.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11. Kerosene and Matches<strong>

Skulduggery had gotten his best suit out for the occasion.

It was pure black, elegant, sophisticated... and made by Ghastly's toughest material. Valkyrie had donned her black fighting clothes, and Erskine and Ghastly had pulled on similar outfits. Azzalyth and Braelyn had their regular clothes on, and Ghastly raised an eyebrow at them.

"Would you like me to make you some clothes like I made Valkyrie?"

Azzalyth shook her head. "No," she said. "Having impenetrable armour for clothes takes the thrill out of it all."

They all gave her a sideways look. "You're weird."

She laughed and spread her arms wide, laughing and grinning at all of them. "And that's why you love me."

"Ah, but do we?" Erskine asked jokingly.

"Yes, yes you do," she told him.

He shrugged and smiled. "All right then."

Azzalyth turned to Fletcher and held her hand out, holding her other out to Braelyn.

They all linked hands, Fletcher taking Azzalyth's deliberately, and they teleported. The arrived in the dank, dull alleyway beside the Sanctuary, and they all automatically tensed, waiting for an attack. When none came, they all turned in the direction they needed to head off in. Azzalyth's hands were almost twitching, ready to flick up over her shoulders and grab her short swords at any time, Braelyn kept a hand on her waist, and the others kept their magic at the ready.

They kept out of sight, sticking to the shadows. They kept an ear out for the slightest noise, but they made it to the entrance of the Sanctuary without having to deal with Cleavers.

"Strange," Skulduggery murmured. "You'd think there would be patrols, at least."

He motioned for the others to stay behind as he prepared to run in, but Azzalyth lunged forwards silently and took his wrist. She shook her head almost insanely when he turned to look at her. "Stay here," she whispered.

She took his place at the front of the group, stood perfectly still, and closed her eyes.

Her breathing became deep and even, almost as if she was asleep, and her hands rose slowly and faced the Sanctuary, palms out.

A sharp intake of breathe was the only response until her eyes flew open, and she stumbled back into Skulduggery, who caught her as she almost lost her footing.

"There's over a dozen Cleavers waiting to ambush anyone that walks in the door, we can't get in," she hissed.

"Dammit," Skulduggery complained. "Ghastly, Erskine, is there another way to get into the Sanctuary without being seen?"

Erskine shook his head. "The Roarhaven Mages are extremely secretive. They only divulge information on a need-to-know basis."

Azzalyth blinked and looked up, taking Braelyn's hand to hold herself upright for a moment. "Why not take the same route Lucifer took?"

Skulduggery started shaking; it took Azzalyth a moment to realize that he was laughing.

"What would we do without you?" Valkyrie asked.

Azzalyth smiled and stood by herself, turning on her heel and starting off in the other direction.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, Azzalyth had led them away from the doors, back down the alleyway, and was staring at a dull brick wall.<p>

Any colour that was in the bricks had faded out a long, long time ago, and she looked up. "We need to get up there," she said softly, pointing. "Once we're on the other side, there's a six metre drop. There's a secret entrance in the wall."

"Well, then," Valkyrie said. "What are we waiting for?"

And she sprinted towards the wall. It couldn't have been more than a three and a half metre climb, but Valkyrie just displaced the air and propelled herself up the bricks.

"Ladies?" Fletcher asked, holding his hands out to Azzalyth and Braelyn.

But Braelyn smiled and shook her head. "No, we'll get ourselves up." She laughed, and ran to the Dumpster that was pushed against the wall.

Azzalyth smiled and ran forwards, joining her on the metal lid, making a shockingly small amount of noise.

Fletcher shrugged and teleported himself to the top of the wall while Skulduggery and Ghastly followed Valkyrie's example.

"Whoa!" Fletcher exclaimed.

"Yeah," Valkyrie told him. "It's a pretty narrow ledge."

"No kidding!"

It couldn't have been more than a foot and a half wide. Fletcher stumbled, threw his arms out. Valkyrie shot a hand out and grabbed his jeans, holding him steady, and pulled him into a crouch.

Skulduggery and Ghastly landed neatly beside them. Erskine sighed and propelled himself up the wall.

There wasn't a lot of space left.

"Move," called Azzalyth quietly. "We need space to get up!"

They sighed, and Ghastly and Erskine jumped off the wall, displacing the air to cushion their landing. Valkyrie, Skulduggery and Fletcher moved to the other side of the wall, clearing some space.

Azzalyth smiled at Braelyn. "I haven't done this in _years_!"

Braelyn grinned like a little monkey and put her hands on Azzalyth's shoulders. Azzalyth linked her hands, creating a step, and Braelyn placed her right foot in it. "Three," They counted down together, "two, one..."

Braelyn pushed on Azzalyth's shoulders and she bent her knee at the same time. Azzalyth used all her upper body strength the launch Braelyn's slight body into the air. When her hands reached the highest they could go, Braelyn jumped and propelled herself upwards, kicking off against the wall with her left foot, somersaulting gracefully and landing on the wall like a cat.

The three that were on the wall followed her movements with an almost disbelieving eye. "And now," Valkyrie asked, "how does she get up?" She motioned to Azzalyth.

Braelyn smiled and held out one hand, reaching for her friend. Azzalyth, from the edge of the Dumpster, threw herself at the wall, her boots connecting with the brick in a deep _thud_, and shot herself upwards. She grabbed hold of Braelyn's hand, swung herself over and used her body weight and centre of gravity to pivot herself, let go of Braelyn's hand, and land on the wall in a crouch beside Fletcher.

Her face was flushed, her eyes bright.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully.

Then she turned to the drop.

"Oh, fun," she said. She and Braelyn threw themselves off the wall like they were diving into a pool in a single, synchronized movement.

Fletcher let out a cry of surprise, but the two girls landed with their hands on the ground, like they were doing handstands, then flipped forwards, completing the landing in a roll.

Fletcher teleported down while Skulduggery and Valkyrie jumped and displaced more air.

"How did you do that?" Ghastly asked.

They shrugged. "Azzalyth used to do gymnastics when she was little, and we discovered parkour a few years ago. We've done it every chance we've gotten."

"Parkour?"

Azzalyth shrugged. "It's French."

Ghastly nodded. "Okay then."

Azzalyth sighed. "Don't worry; I'll explain it later if I have to. Anyway, we need to go this way," she told them, leading them onwards about ten metres.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Azzalyth?" Fletcher asked. "What's going on?"

Azzalyth didn't move. Skulduggery leapt into action, putting himself between Valkyrie and Azzalyth.

Then, like she was in a trance, Azzalyth moved forwards, ever so slowly, and came to a halt in front of a blank stretch of wall. "It's here," she said. Her voice was eerie, like it was a hundred voices all merged into hers. Like the kind of voice you'd only ever find on TV where they'd had to edit the hell out of it. "I can sense it. She's so close..."

Then, the trance stopped and she blinked, shook her head.

"Azzalyth?" Braelyn asked. "How do we get in?"

"In? In where? What am I doing over here?"

She turned, looked at everyone for a moment.

"What happened?"

Erskine let out a bark of surprise. "And we're supposed to know?"

Braelyn was paler than normal - and that was saying something. "Azzalyth, I think..." she stopped, gulped. "I think the dead inhabited you."

Azzalyth blinked. "Really?" She smiled. "Cool."

"Azzalyth, focus," Skulduggery said. "The dead brought you here for a reason. They said 'it's here', so I'm assuming the entrance is here close by. We need you to find it."

Azzalyth shook her head as if to clear it, and Ghastly tapped his foot impatiently. "What's the point in looking?" she asked. "I know where it is."

Ghastly blanched a bit. "Well, then, hurry up!"

She nodded and turned back to face the wall, running her hand along the bricks. "Now, where is it..." she murmured to herself.

"Aha!"

Her hands stopped running along the surface, and she moved closer, then ducked and simply walked _through_ the wall.

Valkyrie let out a cry of surprise, and lunged forwards, but Skulduggery held her back. Azzalyth's head popped back out through the bricks. "Would you shut up? It echoes in here!" Ghastly's mouth fell open, Erskine clapped a hand to his forehead, and Fletcher blinked a few times.

"Well? Are you coming or not?" And she disappeared again.

Fletcher and Braelyn were the first to move. Fletcher didn't stop, and as his hands passed into the wall, his head hit something very solid. "Oops," came a disembodied voice. "My bad. Watch your face, it's a low pass."

"That came a little late," Fletcher muttered. He put his hands in front of him and ran them down the wall until they disappeared.

"Sorry," came that voice form further away.

Skulduggery shook his head. "Well, are we off?"

There were some murmured agreements, and, one by one, they passed into a doorway they'd never known existed.

* * *

><p>It was dark. Dark and cold.<p>

A voice echoed around her as Carma tried to make sense of where she was. "_Sleep_... _sleep_..."

"But I'm not tired," she complained. "In fact... I think I'm hyperactive!" She giggled, and it floated around her, almost visible in the air. "Come on, I'm bored."

"_Sleep_..." Came that voice again.

Carma stuck her tongue out at nothing. "I'll sleep after you make me a sandwich."

Something cold hit Carma, froze her blood in her veins. _Where am I_? she thought slowly.

She wasn't tied to anything, she wasn't strapped down. She was floating in nothingness, in cold. She found it hard to move, and it was almost as if the darkness had a weight. It pressed in on her from all angles, crushing, warping, twisting what was left of her into a pulp, leaving nothing intact.

She tried to scream, but she no longer had a mouth. She had no physical form, so, in turn, she could make no physical noise. Everything she was had turned into mush, unable to make a noise, unable to move, unable to speak. The cold penetrated every fibre that was left, burning with its intensity.

As she slipped away, she regretted nothing.

* * *

><p>"Ow," Fletcher murmured.<p>

Azzalyth sighed. "I've already told you, Fletch. I'll let you all know when you can stand up again."

"Yeah, yeah," he said absently.

Braelyn smiled in the darkness. "See what I mean? She's like a mother figure that we can all turn to whenever we need guidance. She takes the role wherever she goes."

"Watch your mouth, missy," Azzalyth shot back good-naturedly.

"Yes, mum," Braelyn laughed.

Skulduggery would have smiled. They may have been in absolute darkness, unable to see their hands in front of their faces, but Azzalyth seemed very sure-footed. He could hear the breathing of the small group, Azzalyth leading the way, Braelyn right behind her, Fletcher following Braelyn (and _still_ hitting his head all the time), then Valkyrie. Skulduggery was close enough to her to feel the warmth radiating from her body, and his (virtual) brain was racing. If he'd had a heartbeat, it would've thudded through the narrow tunnel, downing out their chatter.

Erskine was following Skulduggery, with Ghastly bringing up the rear.

Azzalyth hadn't let any of them summon flames. They'd see us a mile away, she'd said. Anyway, she seemed very sure of herself, and none of them had a reason to doubt it, so they'd her her lead the way. All of them were still hunched over, almost doubled, but the ground beneath them seemed uneven, so sometimes they'd have to get on their knees and crawl for a few metres before they could stand up again.

"This is going to ruin my jeans," Fletcher moaned for the hundredth time.

"Shut up, Fletcher," Valkyrie told him blandly.

"Stop," Azzalyth said, doing just that. Braelyn halted just behind her, and as the others froze, Fletcher stumbled forwards another step, knocking Braelyn forwards, who flew into Azzalyth, who, in turn, had to throw her arms out to keep herself steady.

"Be quiet," she hissed.

They all stopped breathing for a moment.

Azzalyth nodded. In the oppressive silence, you could hear her hair brushing the back of her leather coat.

"We're close," she hissed. "Can you hear that?"

They all strained their ears and heard a light murmur. It couldn't have been more than a dozen metres away. "That's him," she whispered. It carried through the tunnel, quiet, almost too quiet for comprehension. "That's Lucifer."

Braelyn gasped swiftly, and Azzalyth hissed something to her, ever so quiet, before moving forwards. Braelyn stayed put.

Azzalyth made almost no noise as she inched herself forwards. For someone with the amount of bulk she had, she was shockingly silent. Her breathing was the loudest thing about her.

Her hands touched something solid in front of her, and she realized she'd reached the end of the tunnel. She patted around a little, fingers dancing on all surfaces, feather light, making not even a whisper.

Her fingertips touched something incredibly cold and hard above her head. She ran her fingers around it, discovering a trapdoor. Judging by the texture of it, it was cast iron.

Azzalyth closed her eyes. Sight wouldn't do her much good now. She let her sense of touch fiddle with the door, learning it, finding the hinges, the handle, the lock. She stopped breathing and listened. There was a slight humming above her, like an air conditioner or a quiet refrigerator. Above that there was a soft murmuring, indecipherable with the trapdoor muffling the voice. She waited, heard footsteps. Judging by the way they reverberated, there was something low and heavy right above the trapdoor, concealing it. She heard a slight squeak of springs and realized it was a bed.

Why the hell would Lucifer have a... Oh.

The realization hit her hard. _Oh, no. No no no no no no no nonononononononono... Carma..._

Her heartbeat sped up, pounding in her ears. Giving up on sound, she started breathing again, taking in the scents that drifted down between the cracks in the trapdoor.

Blood, a coppery salty smell. Azzalyth gagged at the sheer volume of what must have been above her. Something else... Fire. Smoke, burning cloth, also some form of chemical... Azzalyth's eyes flew open and she moved down the tunnel as fast as she could. "Move!" she shouted, all hopes of remaining undetected flying out the window. "Get away!"

No-one hesitated. They turned and ran, stumbling in the uneven ground as fire exploded behind them, blasting the trapdoor away. The kerosene ignited like dynamite, creating a wave of unimaginable heat, scorching the rocks and everything it touched.

They weren't going to make it out alive.

* * *

><p>Lucifer looked down at the body that he'd pulled free of the bed and dumped in a corner.<p>

He could hear them down there, with their feeble attempts to get in. They weren't going to get her. Not now. She was _his_ now.

He'd waited so long, and now she was finally in his grasp.

They would _not_ take her from him.

So he'd pulled Carma's unresponsive body form the queen sized bed he'd strapped her to, and let her fall in the corner. Her eyes were open, unseeing, and blood was dried onto every square inch of her body. The dagger still protruded grotesquely from her chest. He'd remove it soon enough.

He had to stop them from getting in, Carma's so called _friends_. He knew that they wouldn't leave without her willingly, so he had to force them out.

_Easily enough done_, he thought.

He smiled and started talking to Carma, even though she couldn't talk back.

"You're mine now, you see," he said softly. He knew that the brunette was right below him; he spoke quietly enough that she wouldn't have been able to understand him if she focused every ounce of her senses onto deciphering his voice. "I've waited for this moment for so long. And now they think that they can just walk in and _take_ you? No. I won't let them."

He found a huge bottle of kerosene, opened it and started soaking the mattress with it. Then, getting bored, he pulled a piece of fabric from his pocket, set it alight, and pushed one half of it into the neck of the bottle.

He didn't even look back when he threw it over his shoulder, onto the bed, and it exploded.

_That_'_ll be the end of them_, he thought to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sadistic much?**

**Ah, I love Lucifer :D He may be an insane bitch bent on destroying everyone I love, but in his own way he's kinda sexy ;) Kidding, just kidding!**

**AH, well, here's you immediate update :) Hope you like it. I like it. I like it a lot. It's a little longer than my other chapters (not by a huge amount, but hey, writer's block happens...) I would have used petrol or something, but I actually love the smell of kerosene more... Just like I love the smell of cane fires in the morning :) Wouldn't I make a great arsonist? Pity burning season its over, though.**

**And again, IS CARMA DEAD? WILL EVERYONE ELSE SURVIVE?**

**Believe it or not, I really don't know. Review and tell me if I should kill anyone off :) I'm feeling murderous :)**

**Till next time XD**


	12. Explosion

**DISCLAIMER: I've had enough of these. Check the first ten chapters.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12. Explosion<strong>

Azzalyth knew from the moment she smelts the chemicals that they wouldn't make it out of the tunnel without casualties.

Her eyes flicked up, her face flushed, and she could see Braelyn's figure racing away as fast as she could, but she knew, deep in her heart, that she needed to do something.

The fire roared up behind her, gaining fast, and it licked at her heels for just a second.

She needed to do something _now_.

The figures started disappearing. They'd reached the wall.

Fletcher and Braelyn weren't going to get out.

"_Run_!" Azzalyth screamed. Fletcher tried to slow down and turn back, but Braelyn sank her small, bony fist into his stomach and made him keep moving.

Azzalyth knew what she needed to do. Taking a deep breath that scorched right down her throat and burned in her lungs, she grabbed the edges of her coat, spread her arms and created a barrier between them.

"No!" Fletcher and Braelyn shrieked.

Hands reached back through the wall and pulled them through the portal. The last thing they saw of her was a sad smile plastering on her face before they were pulled clear of the blast.

Azzalyth, still moving, but not nearly as fast, was caught in the blast. Her coat took most of the fire, the leather burning as it caught alight, but her body, partially protected, but not enough to stop the damage was thrown forwards, half landing in and half out of the tunnel.

There were screams, nothing really coherent, as Fletcher and Braelyn took an arm each and pulled her out.

Braelyn fell back, her hands burnt from the heat, and clutched at herself.

Azzalyth's hair had been singed at the tips, mostly hidden, but the coat had been almost completely burnt through, and her regular clothes were practically non-existent.

Her swords were making a sizzling sound on her skin. Ghastly gagged a little at the powerful, almost suffocating odour of burning flesh and pulled them off.

Some of her skin peeled off with it.

Fletcher was crying, screaming, trying to reach her.

Braelyn was in shock.

Valkyrie had had enough of restraining Fletcher, so with a solid punch, she knocked him in the head, possible giving him concussion.

"Everyone, manipulate water! Drench her, her flesh is still burning!"

A quick nod flew through them, and everyone held their hands out. They clenched their hands, and a decent downpour of rain drenched her body.

It sizzled.

Braelyn was curled in on herself, moaning. She crawled in towards Azzalyth, a keening sound in the back of her throat.

"No," she whimpered. "No. No. No. No, no, no, no, nononono."

Valkyrie, still manipulating water, moved over to her and crouched. Skulduggery, Ghastly and Erskine picked up the antics. As some of the most powerful sorcerers in Ireland, they were more than able to keep water continually drenching her body whilst forcing air in and out of her lungs.

"We have to get her to Nye," Skulduggery said, "or she'll die."

Fletcher groaned and sat up. "I'll take her. Erskine, we have to get her there _now_."

Erskine nodded. Now that they'd stopped the continual burning, they had to get her tended to.

Without the water to blur her figure, they could see exactly how badly she'd been scorched. Massive red burns seared her back, shoulders, neck, arms and legs. Her skin was blistering and bleeding, peeling back. The sheer severity of her injuries made everyone gape for a moment.

_She did it all_, _took all that for _us…

Valkyrie almost started crying there and then. Erskine carefully took hold of Azzalyth's arm, gritting his teeth against the feeling of burnt flesh, and turned to Fletcher. "Now," he said, holding out his hand.

Fletcher teleported to them, took his hand, and teleported them away.

Braelyn was still keening, rocking back and forwards, tears pouring down her face. Valkyrie pulled her in close, trying to comfort her. It was difficult enough just to keep _herself_ from crying. She told herself she wouldn't cry, but the sheer impact of seeing Azzalyth like that took its toll, and the tears fell with amazing quickness.

"She'll be fine," Skulduggery said. His voice was strangled, like he was choking on something. "Erskine will keep Nye in line, and she'll be better before we know it."

"She'd better be," Ghastly said darkly.

* * *

><p>Fletcher was fighting.<p>

"Let me in!" he shouted, struggling against Erskine's firm grip on his arms.

"Fletcher, no! Stop this! You have to get back and help Skulduggery get Carma!"

"I'm not leaving her!" he shouted right back. "_Let go of me_, _dammit_!"

"Fletcher, _listen_ to me!"

Fletcher was breathing heavily, and a few tears had managed to escape and fell from is cheek, dripping on the floor.

"Do you remember what she did this for? Azzalyth took this kind of damage to get you and Braelyn out alive! If you don't go back and help them get Carma back, then there would have been no point in doing this in the first place. She would have been injured for nothing! Go back. They need you to get Carma out as quickly as possible. Chances are you'll have to bring her back here _anyway_. You can see Azzalyth then."

Now that the logic was pointed out, it was becoming more and more difficult to find reasons to stay.

"I don't want her to be alone." His voice broke. "Don't let her be alone," he ordered Erskine. "Stay with her."

Erskine nodded. "I'll stay with her. I won't let Nye hurt her."

Fletcher took a deep, shuddering breath. "Okay. I'll go. Let me know as soon as she wakes up."

Erskine nodded again. "Will do. Now go."

Fletcher sent a heartbroken glance at the door Nye had wheeled Azzalyth through. "Stay safe," he whispered, his heart breaking along with his voice.

And he teleported.

* * *

><p>Back at the alley, Fletcher didn't speak as they inspected the damage the explosion had inflicted upon the tunnel. He kept his head bowed, his eyes never lingering long on one place.<p>

"I think we can still get in," Skulduggery said. "We need to get through and get through _now_. The longer we stay here debating, the longer he has to escape."

Fletcher kicked into action. His head shot up and he looked ahead with a steely glare.

"Let's go."

They moved into the tunnel, careful to avoid prolonged contact with the blackened walls. They were still hot, and touching them too long hurt like all hell, though it wasn't hot enough to burn properly. They made their way through quickly, not bothering with stealth. Lucifer knew they were there. He knew they were coming.

Braelyn took up the lead, and with a hand resting lightly on her throwing knives, her steps were light and confident. "Hurry up!" she hissed back, hearing someone stumble in their bid to keep up with her.

Ghastly muttered some curse about her flexibility and kept moving.

They made it to the trapdoor – or, more precisely, what had _been_ the trapdoor – in a matter of minutes. Braelyn, completely oblivious to the immense heat, slipped her hands up the sleeves of her hoodie and hoisted herself gracefully out of the hole left in the floor. She turned back, reaching a hand it to help the others out, and when they were all standing around, she spun to look at the room.

It was dimly lit by a few candles in a few mismatched places, and it was still swelteringly hot after the kerosene bomb. Anything that was blackened was a dark, dull red. Braelyn, trained in using all her senses like Azzalyth, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

The smell of smoke and chemicals were almost overwhelming. She almost gagged, instead clapped a hand to her mouth. Tears still poured from her face, clearing tracks in the grime and ash that caked her cheeks. Here tears sped up as she dissected the smells and found an overpowering smell of blood hinted under the carnage.

She pulled her hands form her face and balled her fists at her sides. Both of her friends were in this building, both gravely injured, one being treated by a creature that was a sadistic _thing_ on the side, the other held captive by simply a sadistic _thing_.

She would find Carma if it cost her her life.

* * *

><p>Azzalyth was coming out of the blackness and into the redness that was consciousness.<p>

A pained groan escaped her, her eyes pried open groggily to survey her surroundings. She was lying face-down on what seemed to be a hospital bed, naked except for a small white towel covering her backside. She flicked her gaze to a corner to find her clothes burnt almost beyond recognition in a pile on the floor. A handsome man was sitting on a small stool, watching things with a careful eye.

"Erskine?" she moaned. "What's going on?"

"Oh, do be quiet," a new voice snapped. "Knock yourself out if you have to, but your burns are extensive, and I need to tend to them."

At her voice, Erskine Ravel smiled at her, relief breaking across his features.

"Oh, thank God," he sighed. "Fletcher will be so pleased."

"Pleased about what?"

"I said be quiet!" the other voice roared. Azzalyth let out a breath, took another one, and asked two questions.

"Who are you, and where are my clothes?"

The voice paused for a second, and with its brief absence, Azzalyth noticed that something was tugging on what was left of her skin. "You're lucky to be alive, girl. Another few minutes and you'd have been dead. Properly dead."

"You avoided the questions."

There was an irritated noise from beside her, then: "As you can see, your clothes were burnt to a ridiculous extent. We had to cut them off. As for your other question, I am the Nye."

"The who what?"

"The Nye. I am currently saving your life, so if you wouldn't mind closing your mouth before I cut your tongue out, it would be greatly appreciated."

Azzalyth stopped talking, but a thought struck her. "One more question, and I'll shut up."

Nye sighed. "Fine."

"How long until I can run and fight?"

Nye made a strange clicking sound. "I don't know. A few hours, maybe, but I'll need a good few days to remove any scarring. But I can do that later, if you wish."

She nodded, sending a rocket of pain through her. "I do wish. Erskine, go get me some clothes. You'll find my suitcase at or hotel."

She gave him directions, told him which suitcase was hers, and he pursed his lips. "I don't want to leave you here alone."

"I'll be fine," she told him stubbornly.

But he was not to be deterred. "It's not you I'm worried about."

Nye laughed. "Fear not," he said, chuckling merrily. "I can do no harm to this one. There's no point, no with her in the way she's in. I only carry out test on the most interesting patients or the ones in the most prime condition."

Azzalyth almost gagged. "You sound like some bitch during a specific period of time in the 1940's that I won't mention for my own good... Don't ever say that around me when I'm able to move, you hear me?"

Nye shook with laughter. "Noted."

Erskine sighed, about ready to kill the Nye himself. "I'll be right back."

And he was gone. He must have gone through a door or something, but all of a sudden, Azzalyth was left alone with the Nye.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: O.O Burning! I've always loved the smell of kerosene. I think I've said that before... (*Memory lapse*) Dad used to use it to degrease the bike. Anyway, I think I'm almost done with my ramblings, so what'd you think?**

**I know it's been a while, by the way, but school has now officially started. I'm in senior, so the workload has doubled from last year, and the only reason I'm still awake is because tomorrow is Australia Day, so I can sleep in. I have two full pages of maths homework, four pages of English, two and a half of chemistry and excursion stuff to sort out since I'm taking part as a supervisor for the year 8's Picnic Day, and a million other things...**

**So much for no ramblings. Anyway, I'm off to (continue) writing the next chapter. Enjoy, and make sure you review!**

**I LOVE YOU ALL! You know that by now, right?**


	13. Painful Conversations

**DISCLAIMER: I've said it enough.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13. Painful Conversations<strong>

Nye was true enough to his word, which surprised Erskine greatly. He managed to sneak out of the Sanctuary undetected, then got to the hotel and back in record time with a set of Azzalyth clothes balled up in a bag he'd found.

He entered with the bag on one shoulder, finding them almost exactly as he'd left them, Nye doing something to her burnt flesh, Azzalyth, awake and conscious on the high bed. Strangely enough, she'd somehow managed to strike up a conversation with it, and they were discussing ways of killing pain.

"I've gotten to the point where over-the-counter drugs just don't work anymore," she was telling it, while he nodded slightly and reached for an ointment, rubbing it carefully onto the burns that didn't seem as bad anymore.

"I don't know how mortals can depend on that stuff," it replied. "I've always used a numbing leaf."

"Does it work?"

"Of course it does, stupid girl," the Nye told her, but the strange thing was, it didn't seem angry or exasperated. Just a little rude.

"Well, I'm going to need a stack of them. The amount of times I manage to injure myself on solid, unmoving, obvious objects is just ridiculous. I don't believe myself sometimes."

The Nye laughed, and it actually had a little humour in it. Erskine stared. He'd never heard of such a thing before. As far as he knew, the Nye was a soulless creature who killed for fun.

He waited to see how things would turn out.

"I don't believe you're that clumsy," it told her.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," she said back earnestly. "I was at school once, and we'd had almost a week of constant rain. This was only a few weeks ago actually. It rains heavily in mid-summer where I live… Anyway, my friend had transferred to another school a decent walk away from our school. She finished early, so she walked over to see us, and I got really excited and everything, so I ran to see her."

"Oh?" Nye asked, moving to work on her shoulders.

"Yeah, I got to the fence and stopped, but lost my balance. I stuck my right leg out to steady myself, but slipped on the mud and whacked my shin on the metal support bar on the fence. I had a whopping bruise for a week and a half." She laughed. "I couldn't walk right for _ages_…"

Nye laughed, and he actually sounded… _normal_. And Erskine couldn't believe it.

"I'm back," he said, deciding to announce his presence.

Azzalyth, more mobile than she had been when he left, swivelled her head in his direction and smiled. "Oh, hey Erskine. We were just talking about stuff."

"I can believe you went straight into a fence," the Nye said, chuckling.

"Oh yeah. Did I tell you about the time I was cooking a cake and managed to burn my hand on the testing fork?"

The Nye stood back, laughing boisterously, and even Erskine smiled. "You did _what_?"

"It's true. I pulled a cake out of the oven and stuck a testing fork in it. It wasn't done, so, being the stupid person that I am, I ran my fingers down the fork to get the uncooked batter off it." She shook her head mildly. "What a dumb idea. I couldn't write for _days_." She paused and cocked her head to the side. "But at least the cake tasted good."

At this, both Nye and Erskine laughed like maniacs. She smiled at Erskine, and nodded at the bag he had slung over his shoulder. "That new clothes?"

"Yeah," he said, still laughing. "There's everything you need in there."

She nodded. "Okay. When Nye's done I'll get changed and we'll head after the others."

* * *

><p>Fletcher couldn't get his mind off Azzalyth.<p>

She'd let herself get caught in an explosion for them.

His mind kept flicking back to the image of her immobile body, charred almost beyond recognition, and shuddered every time. He didn't want to think of that.

But he couldn't help it. In the short time he'd known her, she'd become a great companion. Easily likeable, easily loveable.

_What_?

Had he really just though that? _Loveable_? Really?

Yes, she was easy to talk to. No, she wasn't perfect. She was scarred in a way he couldn't fathom, but that just made her stronger. She was protective, kind, compassionate. She made him feel warm just by thinking about her, her laughing face, her beautiful smile. She wasn't skinny, but in his mind, it was just more for him to love.

_Wait_,_ slow down_,_ Fletcher_.

He loved her? She _did_ make a quip about it, but then again, so had Valkyrie, and she'd broken his heart. But this was Azzalyth; the one he'd held while she cried about her long gone family, the one who had scared the hell out of him when she hadn't even known his name. She was the one that had allowed him to put her hair up when she looked a mess. She was the one who'd touched his heart in a way he'd never been touched before.

It was official. He was doing this for _her_.

* * *

><p>As the Nye worked, it watched, waited, and listened. The girl lying in front of it would have been a perfect specimen if she hadn't been charred and burned to a crisp.<p>

And then she started talking again.

The Nye found this extremely annoying. It could have fixed her in its sleep, so it's not like it needed to concentrate much, but he found the noise frustrating. After being surrounded by the dead for so long, he'd grown to love the silence that they brought with them.

This girl, however, was not dead. She was well and truly alive.

And she was talking to _it_.

The first question was nice and simple. Something you'd say to start a conversation. "How are you, Nye?"

Nye, who had never really had a polite conversation before, was taken aback.

"I'm fine," it told her, hoping that would satisfy her.

But she wasn't done. "Oh, come on," she said. "Give me something to work with! What sort of things do you enjoy?"

The Nye really didn't want to talk to this girl, but if talking would quench her desire for conversation, it would talk. "I have a hobby of attempting to find the human soul. It's not working so well."

"What, as in a physical soul that you can hold?"

"Yes," it said irritably.

"Oh, come now," she chided gently. "No need to get angry. Don't you know that much about souls, Nye?"

The face that she used its name surprised it. The fact that she questioned its intelligence angered it.

"What do you know about them then?" it snapped defensively.

She paused for a second, thinking. "A soul isn't something physical. It's emotional, psychological, and mental. It governs your morals, your feelings and your thoughts. It doesn't have a physical form. It's more like something you have to believe in, rather than something you need to find." She thought for another moment, trying to find something to compare it to. "Like religion."

Nye had never heard that take on it before. "So all my searching may have been completely unnecessary?"

The girl paused again. "Not exactly. Can I assume that in your search for the human soul, you gained your extensive knowledge of the body and how it works?"

"You can assume correct."

She smiled, and Nye felt something stir. Like some… _feeling_. "You see? Your little quest for the soul may not have had a happy outcome, but you became one of the best biological minds in history. You could probably do things that a million heart surgeons could never dream of doing."

She didn't know just how right she was.

"You could say that," it told her.

"See? I'm awesome. I manage to figure that out all by myself. Seems my brain is working for once." She laughed, and Nye began to feel… _happy_. Happy? Really?

"What do you mean, '_for once_'? Do you want me to look at it for you?"

"What?" She seemed a little put off. "No, no, it's a joke. Like an excuse. You know, something like 'I'm dumb because my brain's not working'. Like I'm slow or something. It's not a physical problem."

"Oh," the Nye said. "Okay then."

She groaned. "Really? That's it? Where's the conversation?"

"We just _had_ a conversation."

"For about three minutes. Pick a subject."

Nye thought for a moment. He settled on one that he thought would disturb her enough to shut up. "Pain."

"Pain? Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"How do you start a conversation about pain?"

"Why do you insist on a conversation in the first place?"

She pressed her lips together for a second. "I don't know."

Their responses became faster and faster, until knowing who said what became difficult.

Nye: "There. You just answered your own question."

Azzalyth: "Which one?"

Nye: "The other one."

Azzalyth: "Which other one? There were many other ones."

Nye: "The _other_ other one."

Azzalyth: "What _other_ other one?"

Nye: "What?"

Azzalyth: "What?"

Nye: "What about what?"

Azzalyth: "I asked you first."

Nye: "I'm saving your life."

The babble stilled for a moment and Azzalyth laughed weakly. "Touché, my friend."

The Nye stopped what it was doing. Had she just called it a _friend_? With this girl lying there in front of it, it could almost _see_ the warmth and kindness coming off her. She hadn't even laid eyes on it, and she was calling it a _friend_.

Nye decided it then and there. It liked her. This insane, crazy girl who spoke too much for her own good.

She was its first friend.

* * *

><p>Not far away, Braelyn was searching the room frantically for any hint on which way Lucifer had taken her friend. She'd found shackles on the wall, coated in blood. He'd had her chained there, and by the looks of it, to the ruined bed.<p>

Braelyn looked around, sickened. In her own life she'd been abused by her father. He'd done unimaginable things to her, hurt her. That's why she and Azzalyth were so close; they trusted each other with their deepest darkest secrets, and didn't care about any of it. They loved each other for who they were. They were closer than the closest sisters.

And the fact that one of her other closest friends had been abused like that stabbed her deep, as if someone had thrown a dagger in flames, then embedded it in her heart and twisted.

She may have hated her father, disliked her stepfather, but this was Lucifer. She found hatred again with a new passion. He would have found fun in all this; joy in the pain he caused. Braelyn found herself about to throw up. She touched her throwing knives lightly. He'd have one buried in every inch of him if she ever got a hold of Lucifer.

She doubled over, hands on her knees, retching. She didn't want to see this. She felt Valkyrie's hand on her shoulder, helping her stand, leading her to the door which had been all but ripped off its hinges. The only thing holding it upright was the door frame.

She straightened her back, steeled her resolve, and ran out through the door.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, what's that one? Five pages? Meh. Long enough.**

**Oh, how I do love keeping you all in suspense :) Thank God for public holidays. I managed to get three hours of homework done and I'm only in my first week back! D: I also managed to finish this chapter. Oh, and I got to catch up on a little sleep :) Overall, a good day!**** And I had to put in names for that bit of dialogue between Azzalyth and Nye, or I would have lost my own place :) Just so you know XD****. Well, I know it's early, but my brain is exhausted. So, I'm off to read stuff for a few hours and then toddle off to dreamland.  
><strong>

**Do I sound queer or what?**

**Please review! I really need some constructive criticism! I'm running out of patience! GAH!**

**Well, before I go insane...**

**I LOVE YOU ALL. I think you should all know that by now, though :D**

**Till next time :)**


	14. Friends and Family

**DISCLAIMER: You know about Skulduggery Pleasant, but neither to I own _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_ (damn) or PewDiePie.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14. Friends and Family<strong>

Braelyn kept the pace up, following the corridor, twisting her body and ducking slightly as she rounded each corner. Her Converses made only a little noise as she sprinted down the winding hall. Her mind flashed back to only a week ago, when she'd been sitting at school, eating lunch and watching videos on Azzalyth's phone.

_Nevar trust them corridars,_ flashed a voice. She smiled grimly as she remembered PewDiePie jumping in his seat and screaming as a monster rounded the corner of a corridor and scared the hell out of him. She hadn't seen the entire play through of Amnesia, but the running commentary that he provided, and his expressions when something unexpected popped up had her laughing the entire time.

_Gotta love Pewdie_, said Azzalyth's voice, almost choked with laughter. Braelyn remembered laughing, and then had a thought.

_How badly would he scream if he saw _this?

The fond memory did nothing to raise her spirits, or quell the anger that built inside of her, but it calmed her down. Focusing back on the task at hand, she found herself almost running headlong into a wall. She threw her arms out, caught herself, but instead of stopping, she used the momentum behind her to push off, running at full speed down the corner, ducking at the last minute to get her speed up again.

Her body then turned itself onto autopilot, and she ran without further hindrance until she found herself at a door.

Her mind told her to open it and keep running until she found Carma, but her instinct told her to stop, catch her breath, and wait for the others to arrive. She walked backwards and forwards a few paces, keeping her legs from cramping while she raised her arms above her head and breathed deeply.

Less than thirty seconds later Valkyrie, Skulduggery and Ghastly caught up with her. Fletcher lagged behind a bit.

"There's something behind this door," Braelyn panted, focusing solely on slowing her breathing. Her heartbeat refused to slow, and she placed a hand on her chest, feeling it thudding uncontrollably under her pale skin. "Something big."

"What like dangerous big, or elephant big?"

Braelyn rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, Skulduggery," she drawled, sarcasm dripping form the words. "I'm _sure_ he has a blue whale in there."

His head tilted. "Do I detect a trace of _sarcasm_ in your voice?"

Braelyn rolled her eyes again. "Of _course_ not."

Skulduggery shook his head. "And there it is again. I think you're pulling my leg."

Braelyn shot him a glare. "If you don't shut up, I'll do more than just pull it."

He recoiled in mock fear. "Oh, no! How could anything be more horrible than pulling my leg?"

Within literally three seconds, Braelyn had unzipped the hoodie and was holding one of her throwing knives to Valkyrie's throat. "I've seen how you act around her. I'm an expert at reading body language. Don't think I won't do it."

Skulduggery had frozen in place, Valkyrie was completely baffled, and Ghastly and Fletcher let out a cry of surprise.

"We'd all kill you," Skulduggery said, his velvet voice deathly quiet,

"Not before I bury this dagger in her neck deep enough to completely sever her airways. You've seen my reflexes. No more games, Skulduggery."

She wasn't kidding. Years of dealing with the abuse her father had dished out to her before her mother gained custody of her had made Braelyn hard, cold. She'd never opened up to anyone until she'd met Azzalyth. And then, as she'd grown closer to Azzalyth's group of loud, rowdy, fun-loving friends, she found herself starting to melt.

Then she had found Azzalyth's family murdered, and she was so close to going on a killing spree she'd frightened herself. Only her friend's comforting presence had held her sanity close by. And Braelyn wasn't the only one whose life had been upturned by their deaths. Carma had had a tough home life – her little 'princess' of a sister and her disabled brother had taken up all of her parents attention. She hadn't been abused, but she'd been neglected.

That was almost as bad. Azzalyth and her family had taken them in and they had finally found their place. Now the three of them had been separated, their adoptive family taken form them. Carma had been tortured, Azzalyth had been burned in an explosion, and she was stuck dealing with an idiot _skeleton_.

Normally she'd be able to hold herself back, stop herself from losing control like this. But there was a difference now.

The problem she had now was the fact that her two closest friends weren't with her to help her. She'd reverted to the cold-blooded creature they'd found her as – uncaring and hard, with a core of steel. Capable of anything.

Skulduggery, in complete shock at her behaviour, nodded slowly. "Okay. Braelyn, put the knife away."

Braelyn gave a feral little smile, and lowered her hand. "Okay. Now, you ready to go kick some ass?"

Valkyrie, a little stunned, shook her head. Her dark hair flicked around, and she nodded.

"Okay," Ghastly said. "On three."

"One," Skulduggery counted.

"Two," Valkyrie continued.

"Three," Braelyn finished.

They blew the door straight off its hinges.

* * *

><p>"Am I ready to go now?" Azzalyth asked the Nye.<p>

She tensed her muscled in her back and shoulders, feeling the tug of burned skin as it attempted to stretch. She rolled her head a few times, and gasped a little as it pulled tightly on her neck.

"I wouldn't," the Nye advised, "but if it's really that important to you, yes, you are ready to go now. I'm going to warn you right now," it added, "if you leave now, it _will_ scar, and I won't be able to prevent it. If you could just wait another few hours–"

"No," she said stubbornly. "They need my help. I can't wait here just so I can _look_ pretty. I need to help them _now_, or they might not make it out alive."

"But the scars–" Erskine started.

"To hell with the scars!" Azzalyth shouted. "I don't have the time for scar-removing bullshit! I've got to help them! Where are my swords?"

Erskine, started by her strength, gestured to the corner of the room. "Over there," he replied, pointing.

"Okay," she said. "Okay. Now, could the two of you leave so that I can get dressed?"

Erskine nodded and gestured to Nye, and they exited the room. Azzalyth, still not having seen Nye at all, let her head droop for a second to rid herself of the dizziness she forced on herself by yelling. "Idiot," she hissed to herself. Pushing herself up on her arms, she winced at the tightness of her flesh, then spun her legs off the side of the bed and sat up, stretching.

"Shit," she muttered. Sighing, she dropped light to the floor considering her size, and headed to the bag, pulling out a full set of clothes. She pulled on her underwear and her jeans, and spend a few seconds fiddling with her sports bra before she finally got the hooks done up.

She pulled her shirt out and started at it for a second, memories welling up within her.

* * *

><p>"<em>Happy birthday, Azzalyth!" her mother said.<em>

_Azzalyth stared down at the red shirt she was holding in her hands. It had a wide neckline, so it'd sit snugly right against the right side of her neck, and just fall off her left shoulder. "It's beautiful," she said softly. _

_It was wide at the top, allowing plenty of room for movement, and tighter around the waist, hugging her body. The pattern of it was of a Native-American girl, with a traditional headdress on, in a black paint. The black was repeatedly studded with rhinestones, and they caught the light from every angle. _

"_You like it?" her mother asked. "It took me forever to find it. Then, when I saw it, I knew I had to get it for you."_

_Azzalyth looked up, a massive grin splitting her face. "I love it. Thanks, Mum."_

_Her mother smiled at her, and Azzalyth grinned back, standing up from the chaos of wrapping paper on the living room floor, and going to give her mother a hug. "I love you," she whispered, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Her mother, sitting in her recliner, had to reach up to wrap her arms around her daughter's waist._

_"I love you, too, my princess," she whispered back. _

* * *

><p>Remembering that day just a few months ago, weeks before they'd been torn apart, had only taken a few seconds, but it still brought tears to her eyes. Her hands clenched, and she brought the shirt to her face, inhaling deeply. If she concentrated hard enough, she could remember the scent of her mother's shampoo, her father's deodorant, and her cake cooking in the background.<p>

"Azzalyth?" Erskine asked softly, opening the door. "Are you ready? You ready to leave?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes, and pulled the shirt over her head quickly. Her voice was a little choked. "Yeah. Just give me a sec to grab my weapons, and I'm ready to go."

Erskine heard the tone in her voice and pushed the door open, a look of fatherly concern on his face. "Are you okay? You sound a little–"

"I'm fine," she shot back, not letting him finish. She moved with her uncanny speed to the corner of the room, picked up her swords and strapped them across her back. She sheaths, made of stainless steel, had had her burnt skin cleaned off it, and as she fastened the strap around her waist to hold them in place, then pulled the other two over her shoulders and fastened them in front of her.

"The straps didn't burn?" she asked him, re-tying her hair in a ponytail.

"They did, actually," he replied. "Ghastly was able to simply pick them up off you and move them. No resistance whatsoever. I found some straps made of the same material and re-strapped them."

Azzalyth nodded. "Thank you, Erskine."

"You ready to go?" he asked her.

"One more thing," she told him. "I have to thank Nye. It saved my life."

"Oh? You know it's not a he or a she?"

"Of course," she retorted sharply, tightening her sword straps. "I'm not deaf. I've heard the rumours. I don't care. It saved my life. That's enough for me."

Outside, she didn't know the Nye was listening.

* * *

><p>The Nye was right at the door, listening in on Ravel's and Azzalyth's conversation. He heard her statement and stepped back, shocked.<p>

She didn't care? She didn't care that it was a monster?

The Nye couldn't believe it. It stepped closer again, listening to the Grand Mage warn Azzalyth about its physical appearance.

And again, there was that phrase: _I don't care_.

She had something wrong with her, it was sure.

Then the door slammed open, and Azzalyth stormed out.

"Shut up, Erskine!" she yelled over her shoulder. "It saved my life, isn't that enough?"

Then she caught sight of Nye.

She froze.

"Nye?" she asked uncertainly.

It nodded at her, hopes crushed. She was going to reject it now, based on its physical appearance, just like everyone else. It stepped back, moving aside to let her through.

She followed it, reaching out her hand. "Say something," she said gently. Her face was smiling at it kindly, but it wasn't a smile of pity. More like… appreciation.

The Nye had never been appreciated before.

"Hello, Azzalyth," it said in its unique voice.

"It's you!" she exclaimed, moving forwards quickly now. "I'd know your voice anywhere!"

It nodded at her, and was taken completely by surprise and she rushed forwards and enveloped it in a bear hug.

Nye stood stock-still .It had never been hugged before. It was pleasantly surprised the beneath the strong smell of the medicines it had applied to her and the pungent odour of burnt flesh than lingered on her, it could smell her shampoo.

It smelled like raspberry lollies.

"Azzalyth?" it asked.

"Yes?" she asked it back, letting go and stepping back, smiling up at it.

"You don't care that I look like… like this?"

Azzalyth frowned, taking in the oily pallor of its skin, the stitched eyes and lips that had been cut open, the strange pupils, the scab replacing its nose.

"Nope," she said simply.

Nye gaped at her for a minute before its mouth stretched open in an ugly smile, and it bounded forwards to hug her again. "Really?" it asked.

"Not one bit," she told it, returning the hug.

"Why not? Most people would run at the sight of me."

Nye released her and saw her chewing on her lips, thinking. "I don't know. I just don't judge people at face value. You saved my life. I'm immensely grateful." She shot it a lopsided smile, and the warm feeling returned. "You have no idea just how grateful I am. Now, because of you, I can go save my friends."

Nye stared at her, dumbfounded, and she laughed. She had a nice laugh. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't the nicest laugh it had heard, but the thing that made it nice wasn't its sound. It was the sense of honestly, of carefree-ness, of joy that emboldened the sound.

"Have you ever seen the Disney move _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_?"

It shook its head. Why would it have watched a movie? What was the point?"

"You should. The person deemed 'ugliest in all of Paris' was the hero of the story. It teaches people not to judge others at face value."

Nye smiled at her again. "You should go save your friends," it told her.

She smiled back. "Yeah, I'm going now." She gave it a brief hug, which it returned. "I'll come back and visit before I head home, okay?"

Then she spun around, facing Erskine. "Oh, close your mouth," she chided. She sounded just like his mother – and she was only fifteen. "You're catching flies."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Gotta love Pewdie. If you guys don't know who he is, YouTube him. He's so funny - and Swedish! I've always had a thing for guys with accents - pity he has a girlfriend XD Just a random bit of information that you didn't really need to know, but anyway :D**

**Well, another chapter up. Homework is taking up an immense amount of my time. I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, but I had to get it done. I can't believe seniors survive high school. Honestly. It's INSANE!**

**On a saner (ahem) note, I don't know why I can't seem to manage to save Carma! I just seem to get to a point, then stop, then start something else. Maybe, subconciously, I actually _wish_ she'd stay dead. No, no that's mean.**

**But maybe... No. Even if it _was_ true, I'm sure she'd kill me. She had several good attempts when she was over here yesterday - I think the only reason she didn't actually do it is because I let her eat all the cornflakes in the house.**

**Well, enough of my rabble. Enjoy! Oh, and review, too!**

**LOVE YOU ALL!**


	15. Zombified

**DISCLAIMER: Enough of those. Check the first 10 chapters.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15. Zombified<strong>

The door careened back, slamming open, and Braelyn stormed in, her eyes flicking around the room, taking everything in. She couldn't take any chances in this. She had to get this _right_.

Getting it right meant the difference between life and death. It could mean survival or demise.

Her or _him_.

Braelyn steeled herself, readying her body to react from any attack that was thrown at it.

But none came.

She kept sweeping the room with her eyes, puzzled. She would have expected she'd have been dead by now. Lucifer wasn't known for his mercy. It wasn't as if he'd just let them _walk in_.

Or apparently he did. Braelyn, anticipating anything, at any moment, did not anticipate what she saw next.

Carma moved out of the shadows slowly, stumbling, limping. She was covered in blood, her hair was matted and dark, her wrists and ankles where he'd strapped her up were swollen, and her gaze was vacant. She didn't seem to recognize anything that was in the room, including Braelyn herself.

Valkyrie moved into the room, placing a restraining arm on Braelyn's shoulder.

"We don't know what he'd done to her. We can't trust her." Catching sight of Braelyn's expression, she hastily added, "Yet. Not yet."

"Where are we?" asked Skulduggery in a low voice.

Braelyn realized she hadn't actually figured that out. Glancing at the dimly lit space they were in, she saw they were in what seemed to be a cellar. There were barrels everywhere, and glass cases containing numerous bottles of wines. There was a steep set of staircases leading down, and they could easily see the outline of the door, light seeping through the cracks around the frame.

The room was filthy, obviously not having been used in years. Cobwebs with long-dead spiders adorned the walls, almost invisible against the dull grey walls. The only light in the room came from a disgusting light bulb hanging off-centre. It was just off the base of the staircase.

"Carma," Braelyn whispered, reaching out a hand. "Is that you? Can you hear me? Do you know who I am?"

She got no response from the bumbling girl. Or the name 'shell' seemed fitting. It was like she had no consciousness – like she was just a puppet. No free will at all.

With Skulduggery, Fletcher, Valkyrie and Ghastly standing right beside her, she steeled her resolve and clenched her fists – hard; her nails bit in to her skin. They didn't break through, though, as she was always biting them.

The brief flash of thanks at that small factor captured her attention for long enough that she didn't notice the shadow to her left moving. Then a voice came out of everywhere and nowhere.

It started as laughter, demonic and menacing, then quickly formed words. "Oh, so the little fly has come to rescue its friend, has it? Well then, little fly, you'll be pleased to know that you've been caught in my web as well."

Braelyn shivered, thinking back to when she had last heard that voice. She never thought she'd have to listen to it after _that_.

It was right after he'd tried to kill her, Carma and Azzalyth a year and a half ago.

* * *

><p><em>"Get out!" Azzalyth was screaming. "Don't stay here! Save yourself and Carma!"<em>

_Braelyn stubbornly shook her head. She'd seen what this guy could do. She wasn't scared. Much._

"_Stupid girl!" Azzalyth hissed, then curled in on herself and screamed again. "No!" she shouted, struggling against the chains holding her back. "Please no! Let them go! Please!"_

_She was begging, pleading with a creature that wasn't even in the room. Braelyn gulped. She'd never seen Azzalyth reduced to this, to begging and pleading. Azzalyth had always been the strong one, the one that would always stand her ground._

_Not anymore, apparently._

_Carma, across the room, was struggling with her legs. She'd been bound so tightly at the waist that apart from massive bruising and possibly serious internal injuries, she'd completely lost movement in her legs._

_Braelyn moved forwards carefully, testing everywhere she stood before she put all her weight on it. Soon enough she'd made it to Azzalyth. The poor girl was curled up in a ball, her eyes rolled back in her head. Her body was stiff, and Braelyn couldn't move her enough to get a clear shot of the chains._

_He was inside her head again._

_That's how Lucifer worked, see. He was like the girls – psychics without magic. While Carma could read minds, he could infiltrate them, making anyone see whatever they wanted. It was almost like he was her other half._

_In a way, he was. But the power, unlike the girls, who had each other to hold them back, had driven him mad. The only way he ever felt in control was when he had control. Control of others. Of their lives, of their deaths._

_He loved it._

_Braelyn couldn't get Azzalyth to move. He was showing her something horrific. Something meant to torture her. He couldn't be bothered doing it physically like he had before. He'd grown tired of that._

_Carma, finally able to stand again, clutched at the wall, holding herself upright, attempting to get to Azzalyth and Braelyn. She could see it, too, and the torture and pain in her eyes could have killed someone. The fact that Azzalyth was still fighting it was a massive feat in itself._

_Lucifer drove people insane. That's how he did it. He made them hurt themselves, torture themselves, break themselves. He liked that idea._

"_Azzalyth!" Braelyn screamed at her. "Snap out of it! It's not real! Come back to us!" She didn't have the patience to try to hypnotise her. It'd take too long._

_The door opened, and Lucifer walked in._

"_She won't come back, see," he said pleasantly. "She can't even hear you."_

"_Bastard," Braelyn hissed, drawing one of her throwing knives._

_He laughed and waved his hand. "Oh, please. You and I both know that won't work on me."_

_Carma whimpered at the sight of him and drew back. The small movement caught Braelyn's eye, and with that small amount of concentration not on him, he struck._

* * *

><p>They'd tried to take her from him then, too. He knew what they were thinking. It was pretty obvious, really, now that he could read minds.<p>

Braelyn, the one with the curly hair, was thinking about the prospect of killing him.

It was laughable. To think that she would have to power to kill him. He wasn't scared of her.

The other one, yes, but she was dead, burned to death in the explosion. He wouldn't have to worry about _her_ anymore. Her and her two little swords, her deadly reflexes, her insane speed. It was pure chance that she'd been off guard eighteen months ago. She's been focusing on her friend, attempting to save her. She hadn't seen him come in behind her.

Why was he thinking about her? Surely she meant nothing to him.

Or did she? He had to admit he admired her. For all her bulk she was fast, powerful, reflexes faster than a snake, loyalty that ran deeper than blood. He caught himself thinking that, now that he had what he wanted from Carma, that he could take _her_. She didn't know what he'd done to her. She didn't have to know.

She _wouldn_'_t_ know.

* * *

><p>Braelyn shivered, the revulsion buried in her rising to the surface with ungodly force. She hissed at the voice, moving forwards silently, towards her friend. Carma couldn't seem to understand anything, as if her brain had been switched off. Braelyn inched towards her, one hand out, on hand holding a throwing knife ready.<p>

Braelyn touched Carma and gasped. She was empty. There was no consciousness in her, nothing that readily identified her as the friend that had joined Azzalyth and Braelyn in their travel halfway around the world, in their little quest to understand their powers.

Braelyn quickly gripped Carma's hand with a gentle strength and pulled her forwards, wrapping one arm around her. She stepped back, into the shadows of the room, keeping watch. Lucifer had the unfortunate habit of showing up at the most inopportune times.

"Ghastly," she said quietly.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Hold her, don't let her move. I know how to fix this, but she must stay close, you hear me?"

She felt him nod slightly, and his arms reached forwards, wrapping around Carma with a surprising strength, and he held her pinned in place.

Braelyn, no longer having to look out for her friend, turned her attention back to the room. "Get ready to fight," she whispered to Skulduggery and Valkyrie. Valkyrie slipped her ring on her finger and gathered a handful of shadows, and summoned fire into her other hand. Skulduggery did the same, but with fire and air.

"Show yourself," she called. There was that manic laugh again, and Lucifer materialized out of the shadows.

"You did this," she whispered, her anger flaring. "You hurt her. You took her powers."

"Of course I did, my dear," he told her, smiling pleasantly. "It was my birth right, anyway. She shouldn't have had it." His expression darkened, and all pretence of civility vanished. "She should never have had it."

"You bastard," she hissed. "You broke into the Vault," she realized as it all came together. "You needed access to the artefacts in there. You stole the Sadreopt Blade. You used it. I thought it had been destroyed the last time we fought, but you knew all along, didn't you? You wanted to finish what you started eighteen months ago."

Skulduggery hissed at the mention of the dagger, and Valkyrie looked puzzled. "What's the Sadreopt Blade?"

Skulduggery explained under his breath (figuratively): "It's Mevolent's blade. Not many know of it – he killed close to everyone who had any idea it even existed. It's made of silver and has gemstones cast into it. He forged it using the silver melted with his own fire; he quenched it in his own blood."

"What does it do?"

Braelyn started talking, not moving her gaze form Lucifer. "It allows the master of it to steal the powers of those it cuts. There are a small number of psychics like Azzalyth, Carma and myself. There are eight families in all, and each first born daughter is born a psychic. For each gem in the blade, there is one family.

"Our power carries in the pureness of a virgin's blood. As soon as we're not virgins anymore, guess what? The powers are ours to keep. Perform a ritual with the dagger and hey presto, he's got all of Carma's mind-reading abilities. We're the only ones that still know of it – the blade, the ritual, the powers. Obviously Carma told Lucifer about it, though why is beyond me."

"She didn't have to tell me," he whispered. His voice carried, echoing around them in the deafening silence of the room. "I knew form the moment she was born that she had something about her."

"What?" Braelyn asked sharply.

Lucifer laughed, a quiet chuckle that made Braelyn think back to a few weeks ago, when she, Azzalyth and Carma were watching a horror movie.

"She didn't tell you?" he asked. "No, of course not."

"Tell me what?" she asked. "Tell me _what_, Lucifer?"

"You remember Mattayas?" he asked.

Braelyn froze. The name of Azzalyth's older brother, the one who had been found in his bed, horribly mutilated.

"You mean..?"

"Of course," he said quietly, that sickening smile returning. "I'm Carma's older brother."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: DON'T KILL ME! KILL MY TEACHERS! Then I don't have to do homework :)**

**I know, I know, it's been beyond ages. But honestly, school takes up a ridiculous amount of my time now. It's not even funny. Maths B, OP English, Biology, Chemistry, Drama and OP Visual Arts is a lot to get through when you add housework and extracurricular activities on top of it.**

**I _PROMISE_ I will try to update faster, okay? It just depends on how much spare time (cough cough) I have.**

**Once again, I must apologize to Carma. I just think she's really annoying - and now she's a zombie! (Well, not like Scapegrace, but still...)**

**Well, I've written two chapters, so I'm off to upload another one.**

**Please review! LOVE YOU ALL!**


	16. Deception

**DISCLAIMER: No. Detect, my beauties! Mwahahahahahahaha!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16. Deception<strong>

There was a collective intake of breath around the room.

"You're not serious, I hope?" Valkyrie asked. "I mean, that's just… _sick_."

"Of course," Lucifer said merrily. "You couldn't piece it together? You and Skulduggery _are_ detectives, aren't you? Obviously you're not as good as you thought you were."

"Wait a second," Fletcher said, keeping away from Lucifer. "What do you mean he wanted to _finish what he started_? You lost me at that point."

Braelyn tightened her grip on her daggers. "Back then… He had Carma. It's happened again. He wanted her powers… He started the ritual." Her seemed almost lost in the memory. She could hear the screams and Azzalyth's begging filling the rooms.

"He didn't finish it. He had Azzalyth chained up, Carma was hurt. He took me by surprise. I don't know how we got away. We left him inside a burning building… I could have sworn we killed him."

Fletcher had stiffened at the mention of Azzalyth being a prisoner.

"What?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"He wanted Carma's power from the beginning. He couldn't finish the ritual, and only ended up with half of her power. He's come back for the other half. And he's gotten it, apparently."

"What's the other half?" Valkyrie questioned softly.

"He can make us see anything he wants us to see. He completely screws with your mind. Half the time he can get you to kill yourself. That's how he does it."

This was all a bit confusing. "I though you showed people things, Braelyn," Ghastly pointed out.

"I hypnotise people. I can make people do anything I want them too. I don't make them see things they don't want to see. It doesn't work that way."

"So… wait, what?"

Braelyn sighed. "I'll explain it later. What we need to do now is get Carma her powers back. Then we need to get out of here," she told them irritably.

"I can do that," Skulduggery said, moving forwards to flank Braelyn. Valkyrie moved to her other side, and she was dwarfed by the two taller figures, but in a way, it made her all the more intimidating.

"Well then," Lucifer said, beckoning them forwards. "Shall we?"

"Indeed," Braelyn stated, pulling out another knife and flipping them a few times. "Shall we?"

* * *

><p>Azzalyth practically flew through the corridors, turning every corner with insane speed and agility. Erskine had to hurry to keep up with her. He ran into a wall a few times when he didn't move quickly enough.<p>

"Around here," she said, her breathing quick and a little shallow. "It's not far."

"I hope you're right," Erskine said, rubbing a bruise on his temple where he's hit the gyprock with shocking force, while trying to keep light on his feet and continue running at the same time.

"Hurry up!" she called back, her head flicking back over her shoulder to glance at him before she rounded yet another corner.

"I'm trying!" he shouted back to her.

"Try harder!"

Cursing profanities under his breath, Erskine pushed himself harder, his robes of office flying around him as he went. While he was running behind her, he could easily see the singed hair at the end of her ponytail and the scarred, burned flesh of her neck and shoulder. He winced inwardly as he remembered her prone body, unmoving and still burning, lying on the pavement.

She seemed very energetic for someone who had almost died not a few hours ago.

He heard her footsteps stop, and he knew he had stopped, but he couldn't stop himself quickly enough and ran straight into her.

She was quick enough to turn and take hold of one of his arms, spinning him right around and sending him a few metres back the way he came.

Her hand was shockingly warm.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, turning quickly and frowning at her.

"I'm fine," she said absently, her hand resting lightly on the door. "We need to get in."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Erskine asked, irritation flashing in his voice.'

"You're an Elemental, right? Displace the air in the lock to turn it."

Erskine shook his head at her. "You're brilliant, you know that?"

She grinned. "You could stand to mention it more."

"Where have I heard that before?" he asked her quizzically.

She blanched and laughed. "You've seen Avatar?"

Now it was his turn to be confused. "The one with the blue people?"

She shook her head. "No, the Anime. Book Three, last episode? Toph says it to Sokka."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, crouching at the lock and displacing the air.

She sighed. "Of course you don't."

There was a soft click, and the door was freed from the lock. Erskine was about to step in, but Azzalyth rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Stay here," she ordered him. "I have to have someone guarding the door. I don't want anyone getting in – or out. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Erskine hesitated, but when he saw the determination in her eyes, set on her face, he subsided. "You ready to go?"

She nodded. "I'm ready."

* * *

><p>Braelyn's eyes had just adjusted to the pressing darkness when the door above the staircase slammed open, cracking the wall, and a large figure was outlined against the glaring light.<p>

"Oi, Lucifer!" shouted a familiar voice. "Remember me, darling?"

Lucifer's eyes went wide and he spun around when he heard her, shock flying across his features, and something else, something darker.

"Azzalyth," he whispered.

She smiled endearingly, her left hand trailing along the dirty wall lightly as she strolled leisurely down the steps. "Yes," she said. "It's me. Did you miss me? No, of course you didn't."

His face had almost completely glazed over, and his dark green eyes had dulled slightly. There was still that murderous edge, but it was as if he'd been completely enchanted by her.

"I did," he whispered. Fletcher, who had been hiding behind Ghastly, moved forwards, rage building inside him. How _dare_ he–

But while he'd been contemplating ways to make Lucifer's life the most horrific thing imaginable, the conversation had continued.

"–never meant to hurt you," he was whispering, and Azzalyth was still smiling. "I thought it was her," he added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Braelyn.

"Don't try to bullshit me," she said, still moving forwards, that smile becoming immensely creepy. "You _knew_ it was me. Who else could have done what I'd done? The only thing I don't understand," she continued, and having reached him, she reached up slightly and twined her arms around his neck, stepping close, "is _why_ you didn't ask me to join you in the first place."

Lucifer, his back turned to everyone, seemed to be lost in his own mind. This would have been the perfect time to throw a knife, but they couldn't take the risk that he'd spin around and Azzalyth'd be caught in the crossfire. Azzalyth had pulled him close, and Fletcher was getting sick. How _could_ she? He'd thought…

Azzalyth smiled at Lucifer, and a lazy smile appeared on his own features. He raised his arms from where they'd been frozen at his side, and he wrapped them loosely around her waist.

"I never meant to hurt you," he repeated, his eyes closing and he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Really?" she whispered.

He nodded, inhaling the scent of burnt hair and medicines, and Valkyrie retched. Skulduggery turned to her, and made a jerky 'stop' motion with his hand. Of everyone, he and Braelyn seemed to be the only ones that could understand what she was doing.

Fletcher snapped. "_Azzalyth_!" he screamed, surging forwards. "What are you _doing_?"

She barely looked up at him. "Oh, shut up, Fletcher. You know we're not compatible, right?"

Fletcher froze. Her words cut him, and they cut _deep_. "What?" he whispered.

She seemed to be containing laughter. "You really thought you had a shot? You're dumber than you look – and that's saying something. You could never have hoped to have me – that is, if you had a brain."

Fletcher recoiled, and Azzalyth's arms tightened on Lucifer. "Now Lucifer," she said, smiling at the man in question, "_he_ has a chance."

Fletcher lost all the strength in his legs and sank to his knees, heart breaking in his chest. This was worse than when Valkyrie had cheated on him with a vampire. This was someone, right in front of him, telling him he wasn't good enough. That she'd rather have an insane mass murderer instead of him. "No," he whispered.

Lucifer spoke up at last. "Yes," he said. "Oh, Azzalyth, why did this take so long?"

He nuzzled into her neck, and she giggled. "Oh, Lucifer," she murmured. She slid her arms slowly from around his neck, rested them on his chest. "You want to know why it took so long?"

"Mmmhmm," he murmured.

Fletcher had to look away, but he couldn't tear his eyes off the scene unfolding before him. With each word coming out of her mouth, his heart tore apart even more.

Until–

"The answer's simple," she whispered. Everyone could hear her. The silence was deafening.

"It's because ever since I met you, I've been simply _dying_ to do this."

Her lips brushed his ear lightly as she spoke, and he relaxed the tiniest amount before he stiffened and tore away from her, his mouth opening and his eyes flying open in shock.

In Azzalyth's hand, she had one of Carma's hidden knives. The blade was coated in bright red.

"You," he gasped. "You… stabbed me…"

She smiled brightly, as if she was actually enjoying every second of it. "Of course I did, dear," she practically sang. "You kidnapped and tortured my friend. You think I'd just let you _get away_ with that?"

"But… you… me…"

"You actually bought that?" She threw her head back and laughed. "And I thought _Fletcher_ was dumb."

"Hey!" he protested. Then something clicked.

"You didn't mean any of that," he whispered. "You were acting again."

She nodded. "Took you long enough."

Ghastly let out a shaky breath, and Lucifer hissed at Azzalyth. "You _bitch_," he snarled. "You _whore_."

She grinned and stepped back, twirling a silver dagger in her hands. "Sticks and stones, love."

Braelyn felt the insane urge to giggle at the Jack Sparrow reference, but instead she concentrated and let fly her two throwing knives. One pinned part of his shirt to the wall which he immediately ripped free of, and the other one skimmed past his face. The only thing that stopped it slicing into his forehead was his deathly quick reflexes.

Azzalyth laughed, dancing back from his expression, blocking off the stairs. Ghastly stood in front of the door they'd broken in through, and Braelyn, Skulduggery, and Valkyrie circled Lucifer. With a quick jerk of her hand, Azzalyth got Fletcher to replace her, and she joined the melee.

"You ready guys?"

Lucifer snarled at her, and she grimaced at him.

"Seriously?" she asked. "That's so old."

"You bitch," he repeated. "I'm going to love listening to you scream…"

Braelyn scoffed. "That's _so_ clichéd."

Lucifer hadn't taken his eyes off Azzalyth. "I wonder how much you sound like your mother. She begged, you know, for me to spare you. For me to spare your brother."

Azzalyth froze, the circling stopped. Skulduggery saw it first. That animal force in her, that primitive rage. The one that made her almost enjoy ripping things limb from bloody limb.

"You," she told him, her voice terrifyingly low-pitched, "are going to wish you'd never been born."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: O.O Wow, kinda out of time, but I just went through all the chapters to copy the full version to my computer, and realized this is just one of my plain ones! . FAIL!**

**So here I am, ignoring all my assignments, fixing it...**

**I should probably get going on the next chapter (for those people reading it, this story has currently been updated to Chapter 27, it's the second of June, and here I am fixing Chapter 16...) So, short authors note, I'm off!**

**REVIEW! Pretty please? *puppy dog eyes***


	17. Deadly Mistakes

**DISCLAIMER: No. Just, no.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17. Deadly Mistakes<strong>

Skulduggery automatically moved in closer to Valkyrie, ready to jump in the way if Azzalyth went nuts and accidentally hurt her. With a quick, practiced movement, Azzalyth reached over her shoulders and pulled out the two short swords, dropping the small silver dagger to the ground with a clatter. Carma's blades had retracted back down her arms, and only the straps were visible.

She loosened those straps and the blades fell to the floor with a loud _clang_.

Braelyn knew what was coming. "Azzalyth, _no_!"

But the warning came too late. Azzalyth had lunged forwards, blades moving almost untraceably in the air. Lucifer ducked and dodged, moving further and further out of her reach. He started smiling at her. Her two short swords made a slight keening as they sliced through mid-air.

Azzalyth kept moving forwards, moving faster and faster, but in her blind rage, she didn't notice she was being manoeuvred into a corner.

Correction – she noticed too late.

Lucifer's smile grew wider as he dodged to the left, scooping the small silver dagger up off the ground. Azzalyth, even _her_ reflexes too slow to keep up with him, spun around, only to find the Sadreopt Blade pressed to the throat.

Her breathing was heavy and laboured, and with each gasp she heaved in, her throat pressed more and more firmly against the blade. She didn't dare move in case she cut herself on it.

Any other dagger, sure, she wouldn't care, but only God knew what Lucifer would do if he had her lifeblood on that dagger. Her powers still carried in her blood.

He let out a shaky laugh.

"We could have been each other's everything," he said quietly.

Azzalyth couldn't speak. He had the dagger pressed against her throat to strongly that she had to restrain her breathing. She couldn't even swallow. Oxygen deprivation was making her lightheaded, so she slowly uncurled her fingers from her short swords and let them fall to the ground.

Valkyrie moved forwards as quietly as possible, curling and commanding shadows to sneak forwards, wrapping stealthily around his legs, waist and torso. "That," she told him, "is just too much."

Lucifer's eyes flicked away from Azzalyth terrified face for just a second to see Valkyrie clench her hand. The shadows closed in on him with crushing force, ripping him back from Azzalyth. She gasped in a breath and sank to her knees, hyperventilating.

Lucifer yelled hoarsely and he writhed and tore against the shadows, but without a form he could take hold of, he failed miserably. Valkyrie kept him restrained while Braelyn ran over to Azzalyth, helping her to her feet.

"Are you okay?"

Azzalyth, not trusting herself to speak, nodded.

Lucifer let out a strangled shout as the shadows contracted, his body seemingly fighting against itself. He collapsed, body crumpling to the floor in a heap, gasping for breath.

"Don't kill him!" Braelyn shouted. "We need him alive! If he dies, so do Carma's powers."

Valkyrie glanced up for half a second to nod, but that small lapse in concentration was all it took for Lucifer to break through the hold she had on him. Staggering to his feet, Lucifer ducked, dodged, and stumbled away from them all, gasping for breath.

"You're going to regret this," he snarled. "_All_ of you."

He span on his feet, lurching towards Fletcher. Fletcher, terrified of messing up his hair, dodged to the side, and Lucifer took the stairs two at a time, bursting out into the Sanctuary.

Everyone in the room let out a strangled cry, but Azzalyth smiled grimly. A blast of hot air flew back down into the cellar, and Erskine poked his head in.

"You guys okay in there, or do you need some help?"

"We're right," Braelyn called up.

With the hot air Lucifer hand tumbled back down the steps, barely avoiding breaking every bone in his body. Fletcher squealed and ducked aside, and Azzalyth pitched unsteadily to her feet. Her hands swooped down and she picked up her short swords, her knuckles white with the force of which she was clenching the metal.

"Braelyn!" called Azzalyth.

With that single word, Braelyn nodded and the two girls moved to the prone body on the ground, weapons ready in their hands.

"Are you going to give up yet, sweetheart?" Azzalyth inquired.

Lucifer spat a mouthful of blood at her.

She sidestepped it neatly and looked down at him. "I'll take that as a no."

She flipped her grip on the sword and brought her fist down to his face with terrifying speed. Without the speed to dodge out of the way, Lucifer took the blow to his cheekbone, and his head snapped back.

"Skulduggery," Azzalyth called back to him, "get the dagger. Ghastly, bring Carma forwards."

With brief nods, they each went about their assigned tasks, and Valkyrie moved towards them, summoning shadows to pin him in place.

When they'd all assembled, Azzalyth reached out for Carma and gasped. "She's… not how I'd imagined her."

Ghastly nodded. "She's like a zombie."

Braelyn smiled grimly. "That's something Squishy would be thrilled to hear."

"Who's Squishy?"

Azzalyth shrugged. "Guy from school."

Braelyn raised an eyebrow at the statement, but it wasn't the time to press the idea. Fletcher, however, noticed, and made a mental note to ask later.

Ghastly and Skulduggery nodded, but Valkyrie was unwilling to divert her attention from Lucifer for even a second.

_Good_, thought Azzalyth. _Don't want him getting away again…_

She took a deep breath. "You ready?"

There were collective nods from around the room, and Azzalyth took Carma's hand.

* * *

><p>Erskine Ravel was bored.<p>

Azzalyth had left him at the top of the stairs, with direct instructions not to let anyone in or out.

It was the 'out' part he was afraid of. For all he knew, this guy, Lucifer, could have taken Erskine out blind, deaf and dumb. It certainly sounded like it. AS much as he felt like throwing the door open and appearing in the room below him, he kept himself standing erect against the door.

Still, his mind kept wandering.

Several times he wondered how he'd justify to Azzalyth a reason for him to break into the room, just so he'd have something to do. When he came up with nothing, he dismissed the thought, only for it to circle back around his mind and become the centre of his attention again.

After about the fourth time and still not coming up with any ideas, he turned his thoughts to the Torment. That bloody spider!

He'd turned the Cleavers against them! How the hell had he managed _that_?

They'd lost not only their best offence, but their best defence as well. They'd ignored a direct order from him, the Grand Mage, and attacked one of the most trusted assets to the Sanctuary.

His thought flicked back to Azzalyth, completely insane. If she hadn't been there, it would have been a) less messy, b) a longer battle, and c) less terrifying to watch.

So, all in all, a good thing she was around. She may have been unhinged, but God, she could _fight_.

He remembered her on the spare bed at Skulduggery's house, thrashing, screaming, trapped in her memory. He couldn't have done anything for her, but what he saw… He wouldn't have wished that even on _Mevolent_. Well, that might have been going a _bit_ far, but still…

He heard a shout from in the room. Fletcher's voice. "Azzalyth! What are you _doing_?"

Erskine desperately wanted to barge in and see what the hell was happening, but he knew he couldn't. He heard Azzalyth's reply, quiet and distracted. He couldn't make out the words.

There were a few more minutes of quiet conversation, then he heard Azzalyth laugh and a voice cursing her.

The voice almost froze the blood in his veins. It was cold, murderous… deranged.

_That has to be Lucifer._

There was a commotion downstairs, and Erskine's mind and instincts were at war. Instinct told him to go down and help as much as he could, his mind told him that he had to prevent anyone getting out, and that was done by blocking off the stairs – easiest done at the _top_ of said stairs.

There were heavy footsteps on the stairs, and he knew in his gut that it was Lucifer. Not even Ghastly's steps were that heavy.

The door flew open, and sure enough, he had no idea who the guy standing there was, so quick as a flash, he summoned air and fire to his hands and sent a blast of burning air at the face. That face, so, so cold, looked up in surprise and got caught in the magic, throwing him back down the flight of steps.

Erskine had actually expected to hear bones cracking, but no such luck.

He stuck his head through the door.

"You guys okay in there, or do you need some help?"

He head Braelyn answer him, saying "We're right," and his hopes sank. He was stuck up here on guard duty. He displaced the air and the door slammed shut.

* * *

><p>Carma flinched at the warm touch of Azzalyth's hand.<p>

"Come here," Azzalyth said softly, tugging her forwards. Carma, no free will of her own, followed the pressure on her hand blindly, moving in closer and closer to Lucifer.

His eyes widened as he focused on his sister.

"You see what you've done?" Azzalyth asked him quietly. "You've destroyed your own sister."

Lucifer seemed to be choking on something. Azzalyth reached forwards and stomped a boot down on his chest and he burst into laughter.

"You think I _care_?" he cackled. "You think I'm _regretting_ what I've done? That's what you're all thinking, I know it. You've never been more wrong!"

Azzalyth's expression hardened shockingly, and she pulled Carma forwards with incredible force, pressing a dagger into her hands.

"Do it," she said, her voice cold.

Carma looked back and forth between the knife and her brother and started screaming, dropping to her knees and clutching at her forehead.

Braelyn jerked her head around and saw Lucifer concentrating on Carma, his face livid. She'd only even seen that animal ferocity in Azzalyth, but apparently it wasn't just her.

Lucifer was bewitching his sister, showing her images and visions that no-one should have to see.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, this is gonna have to be short, cause it's currently a quarter to seven in the morning, and by all rights, I should be walking to the bus stop by now.**

**So, I'll make up with it in the next chapter.**

**Hope you enjoyed, please review, and all that.**

**Bye my beauties!**


	18. Ritual

**DISCLAIMER: Remember what I said way back when? Yeah, that.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18. Ritual<strong>

There was a few shouts of "_Carma_!", but she couldn't seem to hear them. She was trapped in her own mind, being tortured by images that Jigsaw couldn't top.

Valkyrie, focusing on keeping Lucifer restrained, attempted to choke him, force him out of it, to make him stop.

It didn't work. He didn't stop.

"Carma!" Azzalyth shouted. "_Now_!"

Carma, however, unable to respond to her voice and unable to hear friend over her own screams, made no move to do anything at all. Azzalyth, gritting her teeth, crouched down next to her friend and took her right hand.

"Skulduggery, the dagger!"

Skulduggery, snapped out of his trance, displaced the air around the dagger and it flew across the room towards them. Azzalyth reached out and snagged it out of the air with her reflexes, and pressed it into Carma's palm.

Her hand closed over Carma's fingers, pressing her entire palm into the eight gemstones embedded in the hilt.

Azzalyth, ignoring Carma's screaming, raised her hand high and brought it down over his chest, the Sadreopt Blade shearing through his skin and embedding into his heart. Blood welled up around the wound and overflowed, pooling on the floor.

"Braelyn!" Azzalyth shouted. Braelyn, nodding, knelt down and scooped up two handfuls of his blood, holding them out to Carma. Azzalyth took hold of Carma's wrists and pressed them in the blood, coating them. Once her hands had been completely covered, Braelyn dropped her hands, letting the blood spatter on the floor, and held her hands out to Ghastly.

"Manipulate water, I need clean hands!"

Ghastly, knowing there was no time to ask, manipulated water and cleaned all traces of blood of Braelyn's skin.

Azzalyth, still covered in blood herself, scooped up a small handful and tipped it into Carma's mouth, clamping a bloodied hand over Carma's mouth, forcing her to swallow.

"Carma!" she shouted, staring her friend in the eyes. "You know what you have to do!"

Carma, awareness creeping back into her eyes, nodded, and Azzalyth let go, stepping back.

"Skulduggery!"

With a nod, Skulduggery and Ghastly both started to manipulate water, flushing the blood from her body. She was covered – arms and hands, jeans, face, shirt – almost every inch of her was drenched. It took a few minutes, but soon enough, she was blood-free, and Carma stood, her eyes wild.

"Lucifer," she said in a carrying voice. "By taking my power you broke the enchantment that carried down through our family. You have disgraced the purity of the Diamond."

Lucifer's eyes grew wide. He knew what was coming.

Carma held her bloodied hands out, hovering them over Lucifer. "For this, I take back my Psychic Powers, leaving you mortal!"

The same aura that had encompassed Azzalyth earlier that day when she'd been in a quiet rage flowed around the room, though the power was somehow weaker, less prominent. It flowed around, an invisible force, making everyone stagger back.

Carma giggled softly and reached out, finding a palpable resistance to her fingers. She played with the power, testing and teasing.

Azzalyth started inching back.

Skulduggery noticed the movement, and soon enough the rest of them were moving too, while Skulduggery was also moving in front of Valkyrie as subtly as possible.

Then – chaos.

Carma started reabsorbing her powers. Her mouth opened wide, and the power in the air started creeping down her throat. It shimmered and twisted, turning silvery for a second then vanishing, then reappearing again. Carma's body tensed, her back arched, and a scream tore out of her as her power assaulted her senses.

"Get back!" Azzalyth screamed.

She didn't scream fast enough.

Carma's body couldn't take in all the power at once. After so long with only half strength, the full force of it wracked through her, twisting and contorting her body.

Her mind lashed out in self-defence… and hit everyone in the room.

Screams filled the small cellar as everyone was suddenly plunged back into their worst nightmares.

* * *

><p><em>Skulduggery ripped and tore at his restraints as Serpine stood before him, laughing, maniacally, sliding a glove off his hand. "No!" Skulduggery screamed.<em>

_Serpine giggled like a child again as he raised his hand slowly, dramatically, making sure Skulduggery knew exactly what was about to come. _

_Two feminine screams filled the room, and Skulduggery was forced to watch as his wife and child were tortured and killed…_

_The scene morphed, and another scream was sounding in his ears. Well, technically he had no ears, but still… The scene refocused and he saw Valkyrie, twelve years old, her leg twisted at a grotesque angle as one again, there was Serpine and his red hand. Something inside Skulduggery tore at hearing the sound…_

* * *

><p><em>Ghastly stood stock still as Tanith slowly waked towards him. They'd had no leads on her for a good eight months now, and yet here she was. He hadn't dared to hope…<em>

_And for a good reason. Tanith smiled at him, and something inside him twinged painfully as he recognised every feature with painful clarity. The way her mouth curved, the way her eyes shone, the way that a dimple was _just_ about to pop out but never did._

_And then that twinge turned into a burning sensation as those sensual lips turned black, the veins darkened under the paleness of her skin._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_Oh, Ghastly," she said quietly. Her voice ripped at his nervous system. "I can't just pop in to say hello?"_

* * *

><p><em>Valkyrie was running. She turned and twisted, running down the narrow streets, almost losing herself in the maze. The red sky above her bead town with an unimaginable heat, and her fifteen-year-old body was burning. She dropped her coat at a corner, and ran off to find Skulduggery.<em>

_She spent too long running through the streets. When she finally found him, he was scattered, his bones lying around._

_The thing that hurt the most was the fact that he didn't believe it was her. Something in her heart stabbed at her chest as she screamed for him to understand._

_And when they got out, he didn't even give her a hug._

* * *

><p><em>Fletcher stood stock still in Valkyrie's room three years ago, the words still echoing in his head.<em>

I've been seeing Caelan behind your back.

_Of all the things it had to be, it had to be that _leech_?_

_Something inside him broke at the thought. His brain and body went into shock, and he simply stood there, thinking over all the things he could have done, all the things he could have changed._

_The scene morphed twisted, shimmered… and the smell of smoke and kerosene was heavy in the air. Burning flesh sizzled, and he looked down to see Azzalyth, her body burnt almost beyond recognition._

_Since Valkyrie had broken his heart, he'd been kind of… hollow. Nothing seemed to matter all too much. Life just… went on._

_Then this girl, this teenager, showed up, and everything seemed brighter again. She was kind, caring, she had a sense of humour… and she'd almost killed herself to save him._

_There she was… burning… dying… and he was powerless to do anything about it._

* * *

><p><em>Braelyn tried to duck, to dodge, to avoid it, but it was too fast.<em>

_Her father had shot his hand out, aiming at her face. "You little bitch," he snarled. Braelyn, only seven years old, hadn't been able to do anything to stop it._

_She gasped; she couldn't help it. It _hurt_. Blood trickled down her face from a cut along her hairline._

_She knew what came next. He would grab her hair and drag her to the bedroom…_

_She kicked, fought and screamed, but she was little, and it was no use._

* * *

><p><em>Azzalyth was smiling as she watched her friend drive away. She had no idea of the horrors that lay in wait inside her house.<em>

_She waved, then dropped her hand and turned down the pathway to the front door. The front doors were locked. No problem there._

_The side door was locked. Slight problem there._

_Azzalyth frowned slightly and headed round to the back screen door._

_Locked. Okay, _major_ problem there._

_She let herself in through the window, and heard a scratching from her parent's room. _Why would they lock the cat in_? she thought. She headed down the hallway to let him out, but she noticed a foul smell. _Strange,_ she thought,_ Mum normally keeps the house nice and clean.

_She put her hand on the door handle and was about to turn it when her sixth sense told her everything was terribly, horribly, bloodily wrong._

* * *

><p>Skulduggery was the first one to break through the haze around his thoughts. He whipped his head around and glanced around the room, taking in the lack of physical power that had been evident just a few minutes ago. He saw everyone on the ground, curled up and twitching.<p>

Their eyes were open, horrified, seeing nothing. Their mouths gaped, mouthing words, screaming, pleading with people that weren't there.

Skulduggery saw Carma standing in the centre of the carnage, her shoulders slumped, head bowed. She had her eyes clenched shut, her teeth gritted, as if against a massive pain thundering through her head.

He reached for her, clamped his skeletal hands down on her shoulders, and shook her.

"Carma! Wake up! Come back to us!"

_If only Braelyn was awake_, he thought. She would have fixed this in a blink.

The power flowing out of her started to slow. As it eased off, the convulsions of the group of prone bodies calmed down, and silence returned.

Breathing echoed around the room. Skulduggery walked from body to body, checking for breathing, pulse and any other symptoms that that there were anything other than unconscious.

Valkyrie was the next to rouse. She shuddered and sat straight up, her body uncoiling in a blink and her eyes darting around. "Skulduggery?" she asked uncertainly.

The relief he felt at hearing her voice swamped him, and he ran to her.

"Valkyrie!"

She whipped her head around and reached for him. "Skulduggery!" she shouted, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

It took them a moment to realize they were both shaking with repressed sobs.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Συχκινγ πιεχε ος ϚϞιϑ. Now, I can guarantee you that means something to me, but it's absolutely pointless, because I just inserted a heap of random Greek symbols on Word and that's what I got. What it means to me isn't pretty, though. Damn internet being damn slow and damn, it could have just worked damn it, but the damn thing wouldn't load and damn... Just... damn...**

**Now that I've had my little rage fest, I'm feeling a bit better. Sorry I'm a bit crabby, but I'm exhausted from school, homework, the school Musical (we're doing Robin Hood: Men In Tights :D), the Swimming Carnival where they made me compete in _everything_ and I got sunburned and turned into a tomato, then I had Air League, then I got home late, then I didn't sleep well, then the internet wasn't working, then...**

**Okay, Amillea. Stop complaining. Okay. Done.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I've been working on these as much as possible, I swear. As soon as I update i have to call Carma, cause she called me but my phone was on silent, then I called her and she was... doing something... so now I have to call her back.**

**Right, Authors Note is now offically too long.**

**Read and review!**

**LOVE YOU ALL!**


	19. Revelations

**DISCLAIMER: Find one.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19. Revelations<strong>

Nothing in the world moved as their chests heaved in time together. They clung to each other like they were drowning, and only the other could hold them up. Skulduggery nuzzled into her hair, and Valkyrie rested her head on his shoulder, her tears staining his suit.

Slowly the sobs turned into hiccups, and Valkyrie looked up.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Her face was tear-stained, her eyes were red and swollen.

He let out a shaky laugh. "You're asking _me_? I'm fine. Are _you_ okay?"

She nodded and hugged him again. "I'm shaken up, but I'm okay."

"What did she show you?"

Valkyrie started – she hadn't expected she'd have to recount it. She mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What?"

"You," she said, a little more clearly. "I was fifteen again – I saw when I had to go and get you from the Faceless Ones," she explained.

He nodded slowly. "I saw Serpine hurting my family," he said quietly. "Then it turned into Serpine hurting _you_. I _never_ want to see that again." His arms around her tightened. "I never want to see you hurt again."

Her grip tightened too, and she buried her face in his suit, tears starting up again.

"I was scared, Skulduggery."

"I know."

Valkyrie looked up slowly, meeting his eyeless gaze. Struck by a sudden impulse, she leaned forwards and placed a feather light kiss on his cheekbone. There was a slight whistling sound as Skulduggery gasped through his teeth, and his hands reached under his collar and tapped the runes on his collarbones, summoning his facade.

Valkyrie, a little confused, leaned back and tilted her head slightly. She gazed at the pure blue eyes, the raven black hair that sat in a mess atop his head. His cheekbones were high, his jaw strong, his nose powerful. His lips were sensual, and Valkyrie ached to kiss them.

Moving very slowly, so that she could back away if she chose to, Skulduggery leaned in, his face coming closer and closer to hers.

"You don't have to do this if–"

As their faces were merely inches apart, she could feel his breath tickling her face, and her eyes closed. When he started talking, she heard the faint brush of his lips, and lost control.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Skulduggery, taken a little by surprise, couldn't help his reaction as he hurled himself into the kiss and responded. Her body warmth radiated along his bones, and he could have sworn he was going to melt into her.

The simple feel of her almost sent him insane – again.

Valkyrie, on the other hand felt a huge rush of heat flow through her, and she wanted – _needed_ – more. She couldn't live without this. She's wanted – _needed_ – this for months. Skulduggery was more than just a mentor. He was her best friend, and maybe, maybe something more.

God, she _hoped_ it was something more. Her arms tightened around him, locking him in close. He seemed just as resistant to pull away.

Valkyrie loved this, this feeling of heat and passion between them, but she knew something was a little… off.

She slid her hands slowly down form around his neck, slipping them gently under his collar, tapping the symbols to deactivate his facade.

The skin flowed away effortlessly, and she was left against his bare bones.

_That_ took her breath away.

* * *

><p>Carma woke up slowly, a buzzing hissing in the back of her mind, and a whopping headache right in the front of it. She groaned, resisting the urge to put her hands underneath her and try and lift her head from the ground.<p>

She could hear something not far away, a few breathless moans, the sound of a passionate kiss.

She let out a louder groan and spoke up, resting a hand on her temple lightly. "You guys want a room or something? 'Cause I'm sure you have plenty back at your house."

The sounds immediately stopped and there was the sound of the two of them jumping apart.

More groans and moans told her that everyone else was regaining consciousness. Azzalyth and Braelyn were stirring. Azzalyth, of course, completely ignored the fact that she had a massive pain radiating through her skull and immediately turned to everyone else.

"Carma! Braelyn! Are you okay?"

Braelyn couldn't seem to answer, but Carma struggled to her hands and knees and started crawling towards her voice, her head down and her hair falling in front of her face.

Carma soon felt the reassuring strength of her friend's arms around her shoulder and she relaxed, sighing, loosing her muscles and flopping like a dead fish. Azzalyth reached out with one arm and lifted Braelyn over to them, and the two smaller girls collapsed, as if they'd fallen asleep.

The three of them were shaking so hard their teeth were clicking.

* * *

><p>Ghastly pried one eye open and pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around slowly. Fletcher, of course, had started snoring softly.<p>

"What happened?" Ghastly asked quietly.

Skulduggery, his arms back around Valkyrie, answered him. "Carma's mind went into overload and lashed out defensively."

Braelyn had curled in on herself, tears streaking her face, rocking gently, and Azzalyth tried soothing her, but when she herself was sobbing tearless, broken sobs, the effect didn't seem to be quite what she'd intended.

Carma threw her arms around her friends and looked around at the people in the room, taking in her (seemingly) dead brother, her friends crying, the unconscious blonde, Ghastly with a bewildered look on his face and Valkyrie and Skulduggery clinging to each other.

She said the first thing that popped into her head.

"Who's the guy with the hair and the hot guy?"

The guy with the hair, obviously being Fletcher, started stirring and attempted to sit up. The 'hot guy' had to be Ghastly.

He laughed. "The 'hot guy'?" he asked.

She flashed him a weak grin. "Hell yeah," she muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hmm… sexy." She actually _winked_ at him.

Azzalyth, despite reliving the worst moment of her life, managed a weak laugh.

"That's my Carma," she almost whimpered.

Lucifer was unconscious on the floor, and after the massive waved of head pains had passed, they all managed to stand up, and Skulduggery started with the introductions.

"Carma, this is Ghastly Bespoke and Fletcher Renn."

Azzalyth and Braelyn were somehow managing to stand, clutching onto other for support, but even as they stood and stared at Carma, memories started to trickle slowly back into their minds.

"Carma," Braelyn whispered, and enveloped her in a massive hug. Azzalyth managed a ghost of a grin and put her arms around both of them.

She looked up slowly and started the other four in the eyes, slowly and deliberately.

"Thank you."

There was so much in those words, it almost made them all cry. So much pain and joy, grief and joy, tension and relief… so much love.

They all immediately understood why Azzalyth was the mother figure.

A harsh laugh echoed around the room. The Sadreopt blade laid on the floor a few metres away, but the body it had just been embedded in was struggling to stand, bracing himself against the wall, blood dripping in volumes from his chest.

"This isn't over," he murmured, laughing that derisive laugh of his. "You won't get away with this. I'll get you. Just you wait… Just you wait…"

He almost doubled over, laughing, gasping, gagging, choking on his own blood.

Skulduggery pulled out his gun and trained it on him, keeping it level and unwavering.

"Make a move and I'll fill you with so many bullets we'll market you as Swiss cheese."

Lucifer gagged one last time and straightened slowly, trying to hold himself up.

"Try it, dead man."

And before anyone could blink, He'd pulled one of Azzalyth's swords form the floor and brought it down with insane strength through Fletcher's chest.

* * *

><p>Fletcher's eyes went wide, his vision blurred. Azzalyth had torn herself off her friends and was turning, snarling, lunging, hands clawing like some animal, ready to kill…<p>

But it was too late.

The cold metal pierced through his chest, stabbing through his heart, and protruding grotesquely through his back. For a second he though it hadn't happened, then the pain bit in and tore through his bloodstream, making him scream.

Oh, God, it _hurt_.

Azzalyth had completely given up on any attempt to go for Lucifer and had changed her direction to get to Fletcher. The problem with that, however, was that she got in the way of Skulduggery's line of fire and blocked his shot. Lucifer took that as his moment to escape, slipping out of the room in some secret passageway that they could never hope to find again.

The last thing Fletcher saw before his vision when black was Azzalyth, tear stained, sobbing, calling his name.

* * *

><p>Azzalyth didn't care that he'd gotten away. She could hunt him down later. Now, Fletcher needed her. She could see the life drain out of him, she could feel his energy leaving, slipping to the Other Side, where she could only see his spectral form.<p>

_No_, she thought.

"Fletcher!" she screamed. "Look at me! Look at me dammit! _Fletcher_!"

With no response, she threw her arms out and caught him, trying not to jar the sword poking out through his chest. Her hands immediately soaked with blood, spreading quickly on the already dripping fabric of her shirt.

"Fletcher," she crooned, turning his lifeless face towards her. She couldn't believe it had happened.

"Fletcher, don't go. Stay with me. Listen to my voice, come back. Fletcher, stay here!"

Skulduggery disentangled himself from a dumbstruck Valkyrie and moved towards her slowly, holding out one hand, going to rest it on her shoulder.

"Azzalyth," he said quietly. "Azzalyth, he's gone."

She couldn't seem to hear him. She'd already lost so much… her family, her friend… not Fletcher, too.

Something gripped down on Skulduggery's wrist with a bone shattering force; he gave a cry of pain and jumped back.

Her voice had taken on a deathly calm, almost soothing tone, and everyone started backing away from her. It was hard to tell, but with each passing second, they were further and further away.

Azzalyth, not caring about causing him pain now that he couldn't feel anything, gripped her sword by the hilt and pulled it out with the sickening sound of flesh on metal.

"Azzalyth," Ghastly warned. "He's gone."

She smiled serenely. "No, he's not. I'd know if he was. He's still here. He listened to me."

Her power, almost identical to the display Carma had shown except in the level of power, swelled, and it filled the room, making the air difficult to breathe. It was choked with raw power, floating around them.

"Fletcher," she crooned, as if singing a lullaby, "come back to me."

Her power infused with her words, and it melded into his body, glowing faintly.

She leaned in closer, and with each puff of her breath, a little silver sheen was visible.

"Fletcher," she whispered. "Come back."

She leaned in, and, knowing he needed more than she was giving him, she kissed him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, not so much of a cliffhanger, but whatever.**

**God. It's 10 at night (remember, I'm Australian, so it's Wednesday night now, for everyone in different time zones), and I have a maths assignment to do. I got it today and need most of it done by Friday. And I have chem homework to do. And English revision.**

**I'll do it tomorrow...**

**Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I though it was fun, you know... to write... And Valentine's Day had just passed, so I'm up for some mushy stuff. And some people dying. I didn't have a Valentine, but you know... Well, I've got to get some form of sleep for tomorrow then plan a party for this weekend... I'm an absolute _Master_ of parties, just letting you know :) Cause I'm awesome :)**

**Well, read, review, the whole shebang.**

**NEED CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! COME ON, PEOPLE!**

**Well, goodnight XD**


	20. Revival

**DISCLAIMER: You want one? Fetch!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 20. Revival<strong>

His lips tasted like blood.

Azzalyth held on to one hope, one desperate thought, the illusion that she could save him. There wasn't time to get him to Nye, there wasn't time to do anything else… she could just hope.

Her grip on Fletcher tightened as she felt her power beginning to seep away from her. The world around her was clear, defined, incredibly lucid, as if it had been carved from ice. She could feel his blood soaking through her jeans, her shirt. She could taste it, the salty, coppery, metallic taste of it on her tongue.

The power in the room didn't dissipate; it didn't dissolve as it had last time. Last time was meaningless. She'd been angry and hadn't been able to control herself. This time it had a purpose, something to do.

It had to save his life.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie watched on helplessly, unable to do anything as Fletcher died in front of her. She felt powerless to do anything while Azzalyth pleaded for him to come back.<p>

She didn't know if she'd ever have been able to survive something like that.

Losing her parents, barely having her best friend back, then losing someone else like that?

Darquesse for sure.

Valkyrie could feel tears welling up in her as she watched the scene unfold before them. Fletcher, his hair now totally ruined, was covered in his own blood, still losing a steady trickle of it down his chest. Azzalyth, breaking down before her eyes, sobbing, begging, when she'd always seemed so… indestructible.

Then something even more shocking happened.

Azzalyth kissed him.

Her breath had been coming out in little silver puffs while her Psychic Power flowed around them, ebbing and pulsating as if it was alive. Time had seemed to slow down infinitely, and Valkyrie watched on as she Azzalyth kissed her ex-boyfriend.

Everyone in the room tensed, and the shock of the simple act sunk in. There was silence, and Ghastly kept trying to convince Azzalyth that it was no use.

Of course, Azzalyth didn't listen, and the kiss continued.

* * *

><p>Skulduggery was the first to notice it. The kiss had been going on for too long for Azzalyth to have been able to keep it up without breathing. Then, dragging his gaze away from the lip lock, he noticed that Azzalyth's chest was heaving.<p>

She was breathing her power into him.

Those silver puffs of breath… The power that was floating around the room…

It was all going directly into Fletcher's bloodstream. Azzalyth kept at it, keeping the power flow at a constant high, not breaking away from it. It didn't seem she could.

Gradually, her breathing slowed and became more even, and he knew it wouldn't take long before she'd have to break off to get more oxygen. The bleeding form Fletcher's chest slowed to a dribble, then a few drops, then nothing.

Azzalyth broke off, gasping for breath. She collapsed onto him, her hair matting in his blood, the liquid turning from a bright scarlet to a dark red. Her breathing came in gasps – not quick enough to be hyperventilating, not shallow enough to resemble the breathing she'd have if she'd run a marathon.

Her arms tightened around his immobile form, clutching it to her, as if she was going to inhale his essence.

"Azzalyth?" Braelyn called uncertainly.

Her body started shaking, and sobs wracked her frame.

The scariest part about it was the fact that she was completely silent.

* * *

><p>Braelyn, supporting Carma weak legs, couldn't go to her. Carma wobbled uncertainly and tried to go over to her friend, but her lack of physical strength made it impossible. "Azzalyth," she whimpered.<p>

Azzalyth was almost completely covered in blood, and the shock of it made Carma wince. Her best friend…

Azzalyth didn't look up. She didn't open her eyes. Her head lowered and she rested her forehead lightly on Fletcher's immobile chest. She couldn't do anything but hold on, now.

Nothing in the room moved. Lucifer had gotten away, but it hardly mattered. For the life of her, Braelyn couldn't see a way out of it. If Fletcher had died, she was sure Azzalyth'd never recover. It was hard enough convincing her to leave her parents room that day…

Azzalyth buried her face in Fletcher's bloodied shirt and shook. She cried broken, tearless sobs, a choking sound in the back of her throat. There was no response from the body beneath her.

Her power, which had transferred to Fletcher, swelled around the room again, and it whipped her hair around, catching on her clothes and tugging, trying to move her. She resisted; the power became more and more insistent. Azzalyth, seeming unaware of what was happening, raised her head, seeing the silver trails in the air, and tilted her head questioningly.

She didn't do much to resist it, but the sheer force of her own power, now almost entirely out of her control, forced her head back, her mouth open, and the power clawed its way down her throat.

It reminded Skulduggery, Valkyrie, and Ghastly painfully of when the Remnants had run loose.

Azzalyth gagged, gasped, and without a way to stop it, had to deal with the feeling of her own out of control power trying to kill her.

When the last wisp of her power had entered her body, it was like that miniature explosion they'd all experienced back when she'd had her fisrt vision.

A mini explosion.

Well, that mystery was solved. Her power exploded back out of her like a mushroom cloud, but it was a different type of power. It wasn't as if it was her _true_ power… more like a shadow of her abilities.

Azzalyth glanced at everyone in the room, seemingly unable to register the fact that they were standing there, and her eyes lit up. The dark, rich brown in them seemed to ignite, and something in them burned.

This time, she knew, it would work.

While everyone was still backing away from her, trying to register the fact that she'd snapped because Fletcher had 'died', she ducked her head down swiftly and kissed him again.

Instant recession.

The power that had exploded out from her rushed back in, and her hair stopped flying around in an invisible breeze. All her power had been concentrated into that one breath that she promptly exhaled into Fletcher's lungs.

His chest rose once, then just… stopped.

One by one, hopes in the room fell, and spirits were crushed. No-one had really loved Fletcher, and sure, he could be annoying, but he was always fun to be around, fun to tease, fun to ambush and scare.

And he was gone.

* * *

><p>Erskine heard the sobs and screaming and knew something bad had happened. He couldn't be certain of what it was, but he had the sinking feeling he got when something was about to… kill the world, or something. He didn't know. Something along those lines.<p>

He heard Azzalyth's voice, crying and screaming, and he instinctively knew something had happened to Fletcher. He didn't know how he knew, he just _did_.

He'd turned back to the door, ready to blast it open to warn them to quiet the hell down before they attracted Cleavers, but the when he heard steps behind him, he figured it would be pointless. They'd already heard the problems and were on their way down.

_Oh shit._ He whipped around, summoning fire to his hand, then remembered it'd be almost entirely pointless against the Cleaver's armour.

_Oh, SHIT_!

Erskine couldn't think of what to do. Magic was useless, and he had no weapons on him. He couldn't very well fight them _hand-to-hand_…

Maybe scythe to scythe?

A stupid but somehow plausible idea popped into his head. He ran up to the first bend in the corridor and waited with a growing sense of dread as he heard footsteps getting closer and closer. He braced himself as he heard them about to round the corner and he displaced the air to form an impenetrable bubble around his knuckles, and sent the first Cleaver sprawling into the wall.

The scythe clattered to the ground, and Erskine made a mad dash to pick it up, before the Cleaver could pick it up again.

Without any time to process thought, Erskine was ducking, dodging, moving and evading blow after blow, strike after strike that the Cleavers hammered down on him.

He managed to knock out the first two, but the third and fourth were more difficult.

He ducked under one, then had to immediately launch himself backwards to avoid a slicing blow to the stomach.

Erskine swore to himself again and danced back, his grip on the scythe casual, but strong. He didn't dare try to take the Cleavers head-on – he'd get himself killed.

With a surprising burst of intuition, he summoned air to him again and sent them flying into the corridor wall.

He let out a startled bark of a laugh when they went hurtling backwards. Really? He hadn't expected it to be _that_ easy.

When he rounded the corner and saw another dozen and a half Cleavers standing there, he realized it wasn't going to be _quite_ as easy as he'd first thought.

* * *

><p>Azzalyth couldn't hear anything. Every sense she possessed was attuned to the lifeless body under her. She breathed into Fletcher, hoping to God that he would wake up. She didn't know exactly why it was so important to her…<p>

Oh, who was she kidding? She knew _exactly_ why.

She didn't want to admit it. She'd avoided caring about anyone like that for so long now, she wasn't sure if she could. She loved her friends to death, but that was different. That was friends. This was…

She _loved_ him. And that was that.

He may have been a childish, terrified, English boy who was barely twenty-one and had a lot of growing up to do, but she didn't care.

She may have been a motherly figure to so many, a strong Australian girl who was still in high school, on who was broken inside because she saw things no-one should have to see, but she didn't care.

_She loved him_.

As if he was woken by the though, Fletcher's body started twitching. His fingers curled, his heartbeat started up slowly. His eyelids flickered, unable to open, but he was alive.

Azzalyth felt it at once and, without a care, pulled back to look at him, staring deep into his eyes.

"Fletcher," she whispered.

He grimaced with pain, then showed a ghost of a smile. "Azzalyth." His voice was as soft as hers.

Everyone watched on in amazement as Azzalyth let out another choked sob, this one a sob of joy. She reached one hand to cup the side of his face gently, and with surprising strength, his arms encircled her and he pulled her in for another kiss.

It was short, chaste, and absolutely perfect.

There was an almost audible sigh as every breath in the room was released as one.

Valkyrie moved closer to Skulduggery, snuggling in under his arm and planting a kiss on his cheekbone, ignoring the incredulous look from Ghastly, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, and they smiled down at the two on the floor.

A moment of sheer perfection exploded at Fletcher and Azzalyth, exhausted, mutilated, and covered in blood and sweat and tears wrapped their arms around each other and shared a passionate kiss with just the right amount of public decency.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm getting in trouble for cliffhangers, so I'll make it happy-go-lucky with Azzalyth and Skulduggery and Valkyrie and Fletcher, but think about this - what's going to happen to Erskine?**

**So THERE!**

**Anyway, FanFiction is now officially ticking me off. One) It won't let me log in - it took me almost half an hour to get in today, then stalled and wouldn't let me update the first two times, and Two) I now officially have not done a single question on either my maths homework OR my assignment and part of it is due today.**

**Hope you enjoyed, but I'm just saying, to me it really doesn't seem like one of my best chapters. Now, you probably won't hear anything from me for a few days - I'm busy till about eleven thnight, then I'm in the car for an hour and a half at six a.m. tomorrow morning, then I get back mid-afternoon and then I've got to organize an overnight party/camp-out thing.**

**So, love you all, and BYE!**


	21. Understandably Exhausted

**DISCLAIMER: You're reading about detectives, aren't you? Detect!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 21. Understandably Exhausted<strong>

The world seemed to righten itself as Azzalyth pulled away slowly. Fletcher seemed about to complain for more, but with a firm yet gentle look, she shook her head and he quieted, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

She tightened her arms around him, and she seemed to relax. A breath slipped out between her teeth, and as a lazy smile appeared on her face, Fletcher trailed his hands leisurely over her shoulders. Almost against her will, her eyes closed and she leaned down, burying her face in Fletcher's shoulder.

Braelyn stood weakly and stumbled over to her, catching one of Carma's hands and pulling her along. Azzalyth looked up, and a weak grin appeared, she held out one hand to Braelyn, and caught her friend as she started to stumble. Azzalyth, catching them with one hand, used her other arm to help Fletcher sit back up.

"Azzalyth," he said softly.

"Yes, Fletcher?" she asked.

"I–"

A huge commotion upstairs echoed down through the corridor and bounced down the stairs.

Azzalyth's head flicked over to it, her hair flying around wildly, and what little colour was left completely drained out of it.

"Erskine," she whispered.

With barely any strength left, attempting to stand had disastrous results.

She flattened her palms against the ground and span her legs underneath her, trying to get to her feet. Her fine-muscle control had almost completely gone, so it was almost impossible for her to get up and stay up. When she got there, she couldn't stand still.

Skulduggery started towards her, concerned, but Valkyrie had other things on her mind.

"Skulduggery, we have to save Erskine!"

Skulduggery looked around, went to shake his head, and stopped.

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

She shook her head impatiently, and bolted up the stairs.

Skulduggery darted across the room and caught Azzalyth, just as she started to fall. He couldn't hold her up against the momentum she was building up, but he wrapped his arms gently around her shoulders and lowered her to the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Her face had gone a disgusting grey pallor, and she kept her lips clamped shut, but against all odds she nodded, motioning for him to continue after Valkyrie.

Skulduggery nodded back and turned to Ghastly. "Take them home." His tone of voice left no room for discussion, but he doubted Ghastly would have disagreed anyway.

Ghastly nodded, and walked over, wrapping an arm around Braelyn's and Carma's shoulders, sitting them down so they would stop swaying.

Not wanting to ask Fletcher to teleport, he removed his hands and went over to him, wrapping an arm around his chest and hauling him to his feet. He tried to get to Azzalyth, but she waved him off.

"Leave Fletcher here with me and take Braelyn and Carma home. If anything comes up I'll get Fletcher to teleport us back home, but I don't want him taking more than one person just yet."

"You sound like my mother," Fletcher complained.

Azzalyth couldn't seem to find the strength to laugh, but her body was wracked by a coughing fit and she rolled over onto her side, curling up in a ball. Ghastly, worried for a very long moment, felt a few seconds of doubt, but when Azzalyth stopped coughing, she hit him with a glare that would wilt flowers.

"Go," she ordered him, her voice starting to fail.

Unable to see a way out of it without getting into a fight with her, Ghastly shrugged helplessly and turned back to Braelyn and Carma, the latter of who had passed out.

"I'll be back soon," he called over his shoulder as he took off down the corridor, cradling Carma as if she weighed nothing.

Fletcher, struggling over to her, collapsed into a heap beside her still form, and draped his arms over her weakly. She didn't respond, and it took him a moment to realize that she had passed out from energy loss, and he wouldn't be getting any response from her any time soon.

He nuzzled his head gently in the crook of her neck, pulling her close to him. He took a deep breath and could still smell the acrid scent of burnt flesh and hair clinging to her. Her skin was insanely warm through her thin shirt and light jeans.

Her dark hair was matted with his blood, but with a careful, gentle movement, he pried it away from her face and caught a glimpse of her shoulder.

Charred, glossy, disfigured.

He stifled a gasp and gently pried her shirt away from her back. He almost cried out at seeing her – her back was shiny and red, burnt, scarred in a way that should have meant she should have had a skin graft. Fletcher was certain Nye could have fixed her is she'd bothered to stay a little longer.

_If she's bother to stay a little longer…_

She'd left Nye, leaving herself irrevocably scarred, to help them.

Fletcher trailer his fingers gently over the hot flesh, and he felt a few tears escape and trickle down his cheek.

He nuzzled his face into her neck once more, thinking about how much she sacrificed, how much she'd lost, and how much he loved her for it.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie's feet pounded along the corridor, her body twisting and turning in time with the bends in the path. She heard Skulduggery behind her, could almost sense his footsteps. Part of her mind was mulling over what had transpired between them, but the majority of her brain was more focused on finding Erskine.<p>

Alive. Hopefully.

_If he_'_s gotten himself murdered_, she thought angrily, _I'm going to kill him._

She twisted around another corner and found the bodies of five unconscious Cleavers, scattered, their bodies piled up like they'd been cast aside carelessly.

"Judging by the amount of noise, the amount he's taken down, and the marks on the wall, there must have been at least a dozen of them."

"Either that," Valkyrie said, "Or you could just count the amount of scythes on the floor."

"Yes," Skulduggery admitted, "I guess you could do that too."

Valkyrie's gaze flicked around the room, and she got a rough guesstimate.

"Fourteen," she counted. "Well, fourteen left. Not all of them would have dropped their weapons."

"More than fourteen," Skulduggery said, his voice empty.

Valkyrie nodded. "Let's get to it."

* * *

><p>Ghastly ran back through the corridors, breathing heavily, dragging Braelyn along and cradling an unconscious Carma in his arms. Every now and again he'd look back down at her; her long, red-gold hair, her delicate features, her millions of freckles. He felt his heart wrench every time he thought of her incredible powers, and again with pity when he'd though of what she'd been through.<p>

Kidnapped and tortured by her own _brother_.

While keeping a solid grip on Braelyn, he had a strong urge to scoop her up as well and take off running down the hallway, just to get them all the more quickly to safety.

_I hope she's okay_…

The though sprang to his mind, and he didn't even know where it came from. He felt a strong urge to protect her, this small, unconscious girl with the tremendous power that had just been to Hell and back.

Braelyn, gasping for breath, tugged on his arm.

"Slow… down!" she managed. "I need… air!"

Ghastly slowed down significantly and turned back to her.

"Here," he said. He held Carma's light body out, holding her carefully. Braelyn wrapped her arms around her friend's torso and held her tightly. Her chest heaved with gasps, but Ghastly simply picked Braelyn up, and for that, Carma as well, and took off again.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie surveyed the crime scene for a second, then turned down the corridor the Cleavers had inevitably taken Erskine.<p>

"You ready?" she asked.

"Always," Skulduggery replied, taking her hand and sprinting alongside her down the hall.

Without a second thought, they'd linked their fingers together and taken off, grinning like idiots. Skulduggery could feel the warmth of Valkyrie's hand and the pressure she was exerting every time her feet hit the ground.

"Run, Skulduggery," Valkyrie huffed, pushing herself further, running faster, trying to catch up with the Cleavers.

"I'm running," he complained.

"Well, run faster!"

Not bothering to argue, he picked up the pace, almost dragging Valkyrie behind him.

"What are we doing?" he asked.

"What?" she huffed back.

"Why are we running when–"

The floor disappeared from under her feet, and Valkyrie let out a small, startled shriek before everything turned right side up and she could see again.

"–we can fly?" Skulduggery finished.

He'd wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close, and he was manipulating the air to propel himself forwards, flying through the air.

Valkyrie groaned. "Why didn't… I think of this… earlier?"

He laughed lightly. "I don't know."

Valkyrie wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She hadn't even realized she'd tapped his facade tattoos until the skin started flowing.

She let out a surprised exclamation and pulled back to look at it. She blanched a little.

"What?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Valkyrie let her hands move to his skin. It felt so _real_. She trailed her fingers lightly across it and he blushed, shivering.

"It's the same," she whispered, awed.

"Repeat that?"

She trailed her fingers through the raven-black hair. "It's identical to last time," she explained. "Your facade. It's like it's… stuck."

He grunted. "Must be a glitch or something. I'll get China to look at it later."

"No," she said, suddenly struck by an impulse. "Don't. I like it."

He smiled at her. "Ah," he said gently, "but do I like it?"

_God_, she thought, _men can be so thick_.

"You will," she said clearly. The confusion in his face lifted, and he grinned.

"Why, yes," he said. "I'm sure I will."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OMG! BRAELYN! THIS IS SOO DEDICATED TO YOU!**

**You know how I know she's started reading it? Because she's complaining to me. That's how XD.**

**Back on subject... Once again, chapter, fun, busy, stuff, assessment, musical... You get the gist of it. So sorry it took me so long, but I had to get everything done. After that skating on the weekend, I could not physically sit down on Monday. Or Tuesday. It _hurt._**

**Back on subject. Stay this time, Amillea! Okay. Everyone knows that Braelyn is my bestest friend ever although she is halfway across the country. We still talk every week, and via the internet and everything, so yeah... Dedicated to you, m'dear!**

**Oh, and also dedicated to everyone who's reviewed. Thank you, my lovelies!**

**Shall update when I can find time...**

**READ AND REVIEW! Please :D**


	22. Kidnapped While Being Kidnapped

**DISCLAIMER: If you're expecting one by now, shame on you!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 22. Kidnapped While Being Kidnapped<strong>

Valkyrie and Skulduggery founded the last corner – _finally_ – and skidded to a halt.

Oh God.

As they came out of the corridor and caught themselves on the door frame, their mouths dropped open. Blood coated every square inch of the walls, gore was splattered everywhere, and the mutilated bodies of Cleavers were twisted and torn, and a few struggled to draw breath before shuddering violently and dying.

"Oh, God," Valkyrie gasped.

"What the…?" The question hung in the air, and their queries were answered by a disembodied laugh echoing around them.

"Lucifer," Skulduggery growled. "He's taken Erskine."

Valkyrie turned her gaze away from the room to stop herself throwing up. "Why the hell would he do that?" she asked.

Skulduggery let out a growl. "Who knows? But a madman is on the loose with the Grand Mage as a hostage. Who knows what's going to happen?"

"We have to find him," Valkyrie stated flatly, and Skulduggery nodded.

They left the room, picking their way carefully through the bodies.

Inspecting them closer, Skulduggery noticed something. There hadn't been any knife, sword or scythe used.

The Cleavers had been torn apart, limb from limb, organs from flesh…

…_by_ _human hands._

* * *

><p>The Torment paced back and forth angrily, still shocked by the news that a bloodied, mostly-dead Cleaver had brought him.<p>

"You mean," he repeated for the sixth time, "that a young man in his early twenties, severely injured, and scared for his life _ambushed_ you, _ripped_ you apart with his _bare hands_, and _took off_ with the Grand Mage?"

The Cleaver, sick of repeating it, nodded and keeled over and died.

The Torment let out a scream of frustration and his leg shot forwards, taking the Cleaver's head off and sending it across the room.

"Shit!" he yelled.

Madame Mist poked her head into the room, her face expressionless.

"What's happened?"

The Torment span around with blinding speed to face her. "He's gotten away!"

"Who?"

"Ravel! Some punk kidnapped him while my Cleavers were in the process of kidnapping him in the first place!"

"But you were kidnapped him first, yes?"

The Torment growled. "Of course!"

"Then why don't you go and ambush them and kidnap them both back?"

The Torment froze. A sinister smile slowly spread across his face. "Why didn't I think of that in the first place?"

Madame Mist shrugged. "Because I'm just that much smarter than you?"

The Torment howled in rage and span to her, but he stopped when he saw the seductive, playful smile on her face.

"Oh," he said, realizing her intention. A smile appeared on his features as well. "Oh."

* * *

><p>"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"<p>

"I don't know. The chances of you thinking exactly the same thing that I'm thinking at the same time are highly improbable."

"Skulduggery, I've know you for what, seven years now? I think I know I'm thinking what you're thinking when we're thinking the same thing."

"You make no sense."

"You're _face_ makes no sense."

"I don't have a face."

Valkyrie blew a raspberry. "Skull, face, same difference."

"Not entirely, darling."

A warm shiver passed over her at the term 'darling', and she smiled at him quickly before becoming serious again.

"So, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think we've already established that."

Valkyrie shook her head exasperatedly. "So?"

Skulduggery nodded at her gravely, and they spoke in unison.

"Lucifer."

There was a hiss as Skulduggery inhaled sharply, and after a quick glance, they took off running again. The trail of blood was clear, but getting harder and harder to see in the dying light.

A random thought raced across his mind. _We've now officially know Carma, Braelyn and Azzalyth for twenty-four hours_.

The amount that had happened in that twenty-four hours? Enough to last a lifetime.

Valkyrie, starting to run out of breath, gasped and panted again, and Skulduggery mentally kicked himself. Scooping her up, he took to the skies once more.

"Left, Skulduggery, left!" Valkyrie shouted, noticing the trail veering off-course.

Skulduggery responded quickly to her order and switched direction, flying off to follow the blood.

"We'll have to land soon," he told her. "It's getting hard to find the trail form this height."

"Just keep going," she ordered. "Don't stop."

Skulduggery laughed a little at the innuendo and held her closer, hoping that his bones weren't poking into her too uncomfortably.

She sighed and nestled in even closer.

After the sun had completely set, they had been to lower to the ground. They couldn't keep going, and they had to almost double over to keep sight of the blood.

"Skulduggery," Valkyrie said, the upward inflection in her voice indicating a question.

"Yes, dear?"

"Can you even see where you're going?"

He hesitated, and said, "No, dear."

She chuckled to herself and told him, "Summon fire."

He mentally face-palmed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

She giggled and slapped him gently, and he snapped his fingers. Light flared up around them ,and the sudden, shocking clarity of the blood splatters almost made Valkyrie wince.

Almost.

No idiot deserved sympathy after what Lucifer had done.

Valkyrie felt her hands clenching, and clenching _hard_.

Skulduggery, after a careful inspection of the ground, shot himself forwards and followed the trail of blood. He ducked, dodged, and moved quickly around the trees that seemed to be closing in on them.

"Skulduggery!" Valkyrie shouted, panicking for a second as he ducked out of sight. She wasn't scared – well, not really. The only thing she had to worry about was the thought of a deranged mass-murdered cornering her and killing her in the most horrible way possible.

Yeah. No problems at all.

"What?" came his voice form a little way away.

She let out a breath of relief. She shouldn't have.

"Why, hello there, darling," came a cold voice.

Valkyrie whirled around, throwing her arms in front of her defensively. There he was.

Pale. Blood-spattered. Insane.

Haunted.

Lucifer stood not five feet away from her. His wounds had stopped bleeding, but he was doubled over in pain, and he was pale as a ghost from blood loss.

Valkyrie drew in a deep breath to scream, to call for Skulduggery, but the twisted smile on his face stopped her.

"If you even think about calling the detective, you'll never find Erskine Ravel… alive, that is. However," he scrunched up his face in pain for a second, "If you come with me quietly, maybe you'll see him breathing again."

Valkyrie resisted the urge to simply kill him.

"You're sick."

He grimaced and half-shrugged. "Aren't we all?" he asked, his Australian accent almost overpowering him. "That's what makes us fun. Now, are you coming or not?"

* * *

><p>Skulduggery had scouted the entire area, and couldn't find another single blood drop. He stood quietly, sighed, and headed back to where he had left Valkyrie.<p>

"There's no trace of him," he called through the trees.

He'd expected an answer, to be honest.

"Valkyrie? Are you okay?"

Still with the silence.

A feeling hit him in the stomach, and he let the fire in his hand go out, and he pulled his gun out of his pocket.

"Valkyrie?"

There was no movement, no sign to indicate that she was there. Skulduggery abandoned the concept of silence and ran at a full sprint towards her.

Or where she should have been. No evidence showed that she'd even been there.

"Valkyrie?" he called again, his voice rising in fear. "Where are you?"

The silence that greeted him was broken only by his next few words.

"I'll kill him."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It's so _short_! Sorry guys, but honestly, it's the best I can do at the moment. I've been busy off the face of the planet, depressed, comforting everyone else that's depressed (which is over half my friends) and stabbed in the back all within the last few days.**

**So, I've had a mini-rant, now, chapter wise... Hope you like it and stuff.** **I just spoke to Braelyn, and apparently there's a chance I can see her next weekend! I'm so excited! Two and a half months is FOREVER when you're apart from you best friend ever!**

**Okay, completely off topic, but still... I've been working with this Musical, and homework, and Air League stuff, and it's all getting a bit much. I promise I'll start trying to update as soon as possible, okay? (Did that even make any sense?)  
><strong>

**So, read and review! Love your work, people!**

**YOU ARE ALL MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE EVER!**


	23. Kidnapped Yet Again

**DISCLAIMER: Just give up.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 23. Kidnapped Yet Again<strong>

"Dammit!" he screamed.

Valkyrie was gone. Trapped, kidnapped by a madman. _And he hadn't been there to protect her_.

"Valkyrie!" he yelled, sinking to his knees. Silence greeted him. Without her comforting presence beside him, he realized just how cold and dark the woods were. _And he'd left her in them by herself_.

His hands clenched into skeletal fists on the grass, staining his gloves. His fingers twisted in the grass and the dirt, tearing up the ground and sending clumps of soil every which way.

Why was it that rain always started at the most inopportune moment? Like in the movies, droplets of water found their way through the sparse leaves and vegetation above him and started soaking through his suit. He was too furious and depressed to even bother trying to manipulate the water around him.

An animal sound tore its way out of his throat, dulled by the pitter-patter of rain falling gently around him.

After a few minutes, he got a hold of himself. "Alright," he said to no one and nothing. "Let's go."

Nothing crossed his path as he backtracked through the woodland, trying to keep his gaze up and scanning the surrounding area, not focused on the ground, leaving him oblivious to any attack.

His essence burned. He was so close to letting Lord Vile out, just to find Lucifer. He wanted to be himself when he killed him, just to him scream. _He_ wanted to be the one to do it. _He_ wanted to take his revenge.

Skulduggery stopped himself, just as he was about to explode. He turned away from the forest, threw his face to the sky, and took off.

Twenty minutes later he was out of the woods, and within the hour he'd arrived home to find Carma and Braelyn asleep on the couches.

He opened the door silently, trying not to wake them. They needed sleep. _He_ needed to find Lucifer… but he hadn't a clue where to start. He'd need to ask the girls. They'd have some clue, surely?

Skulduggery gave up all pretence of being quiet, and moved into the room. Then he stopped.

Carma and Braelyn were almost completely intertwined, like they were the only life buoys holding them up at sea. Their faces were wholly serene, and he doubted he could've woken them up if he wanted to.

His heart (figuratively) went out to them. They'd been through so much… Their eyes were sunken and they were covered in blood, and bruises were showing in various places. Their hair was matted and an utter mess, and they looked so young there…

The front door opened again, just a little, and amidst a roll of thunder and lightning outside, three shapes were silhouetted against the black background. Ghastly was supporting Azzalyth, and Fletcher was stumbling along beside them. Azzalyth had completely lost consciousness, and Ghastly was having a little trouble trying to manoeuvre her through the door while still holding up Fletcher.

"A little help here?" he asked.

Skulduggery darted forwards and put an arm around Azzalyth's shoulder, helping Ghastly heave her sodden form through the doorway.

Fletcher stumbled a little and caught himself on the door. "Is she going to be okay?"

Skulduggery observed her for a moment, the way her head lolled, her body put up absolutely no resistance.

He said the only thing he could be certain of. "I don't know."

* * *

><p>Carma and Braelyn woke up with the sunrise. Skulduggery had spent the entire night pacing the living room, waiting for them to get up. Ghastly was in the kitchen, cooking something for everyone, and Fletcher had spent the entire night clutching onto Azzalyth's unresponsive hand.<p>

The sun broke through the dark cloud cover, sending a few feeble rays of sunshine streaming towards the house. Within seconds of each other, Carma and Braelyn opened their eyes and surveyed the room they were in without moving a single muscle.

"Oh, good," Skulduggery said irritable. "You're awake. Took long enough."

Braelyn, stubborn and random as she was, completely ignored him and spoke the obvious question.

"Where's Azzalyth? Is she okay?"

Carma, moving like a bolt of lightning, was all of a sudden sitting upright, without any movement in between the two freeze frames. "Oh, God! Where is she? Take me to her!"

Skulduggery didn't answer them for a second, and that amount of stubbornness was all it took for Carma to turn vicious.

"Take me to her. Now. Or you'll live nightmares you'll never want to see. NOW!"

Skulduggery was scared for a moment, the memory of her last attack fresh in his mind.

Once again. Like there was no movement, Carma was gripping the front of his tattered suit with one fist. The fact that she was so short only made her fury more pronounced.

"This way," he said eventually, his voice hard.

He turned, and Braelyn and Carma were following him until he opened the bedroom door, exposing Azzalyth, bloodstained and battered, unconscious on the bed. Her injures were prominent even in the dim lighting, and her body was eerily still. It was even hard to discern any breathing.

Fletcher had rested his head on the side of the bed, and his eyes were closed. He'd fallen asleep, but his hand was still intertwined with Azzalyth's fingers.

Braelyn and Carma whispered "Oh, God," in unison and launched themselves forwards, shoving Fletcher out of the way. His head knocked against the wall and he jerked awake.

"Hey!" Braelyn was on Azzalyth's left, Carma on her right. Fletcher moved carefully and lifted her top half gently, then sat underneath her, resting her head lightly on his lap.

"She hasn't moved all night," he told them quietly.

Tears were running down her friends faces, and if Skulduggery wasn't so scared about Valkyrie, he might well have done the same thing. Well, granted, he didn't have any tear ducts, but… To some effect of crying, sure.

Braelyn took one hand and Carma took her other.

Power swelled.

The little sliver puffs of psychic power filled the room, shifting and swelling. Carma and Braelyn were desperate to try and save their friend. Skulduggery saw the power moving into Azzalyth's lungs, filling them and making her chest rise.

All to no result. She still lay there motionless.

"What's going on?" Fletcher asked.

Skulduggery answered him. Carma and Braelyn were too focused on what they were doing. They wouldn't even look away from her face.

"They're attempting to save her life… the way she saved yours."

"What?"

Skulduggery sighed. His temper was wearing thin. He'd explode soon enough.

"Fletcher, you got stabbed in the chest. Hard. You should have died. We all thought you had for a second there."

"So? I recovered. She'll recover." Skulduggery found himself greatly saddened by the hope in his voice.

"Fletcher, _she_ saved you. We'd almost certainly given up. I've never seen someone take damage like that and live – Lucifer got you in the _heart_. Azzalyth used the power she had and forced it into you. It was her power that saved you, pulled you back from the brink of death. She's been weak and unsteady since. I think it took everything she had to save you."

"So you mean…"

"Yes. If she dies, it's because she saved your life in return."

Fletcher was crying. Tears slicked his cheeks, and pooled in the crook of her neck. "It's my fault," he whispered. "It's my fault if she dies."

Skulduggery didn't have it in him to watch a touchy, soppy, tear soaked scene, so he whipped around and left the room in a whistle of ruined clothing.

He stormed into the kitchen to the smell of bacon and eggs. It seemed a little under done, but he wasn't eating, so what did he care? He was pissed off. Majorly pissed off.

Insanely pissed off.

Ghastly looked up as he entered and sat at the bench. "Skulduggery, we'll find her. We'll find both of them. All we can do for now is try to take care of the girls. They're here alone – they've got no one. When Azzalyth recovers, we can get her to track them, but until then, all we can do is wait."

Skulduggery growled something incomprehensible, even to himself, and stood up. He started pacing again.

"Oh, for Christ's sake. Would you stop?"

Skulduggery muttered. "Not until we find her."

Ghastly sighed, deciding not to bother pursuing the subject. "Breakfast is ready. Go and get everyone."

Skulduggery hissed at him, but obligingly turned and stormed out of the kitchen.

Everyone's efforts had stopped by the time he got there. They had simply given up and were collapsed on the bed, and tears were everywhere. The room smelled of blood and salt.

"Come on," he snapped, not wanting to get all mushy. "Everyone downstairs. Breakfast is ready."

No one moved.

"Oh, shit. Come on," he told them, moving forwards and picking up the girls by the scruff of their necks. Braelyn's shirt tightened around her, and Carma's bell sleeves dangled limply, encrusted with dried blood.

"Come on. Get going. She's not going anywhere."

They didn't even put up a fight. They didn't seem to have the energy. It was as if they'd given it all away and they weren't getting it back.

"You, too," he said forcefully, pulling Fletcher off the bed. Azzalyth's body flowed around his movements like liquid. She ended up on the bed in an ungraceful pile.

Skulduggery shoved Fletcher towards the door, but he was stubborn and turned back.

Skulduggery was about to displace the air around him and throw him out, but something in Fletcher's eyes stopped him. "Please," he said quietly, his voice almost begging. "Just let me make her comfortable."

Without the thought to argue, Skulduggery sighed and stepped aside. Fletcher moved to the bed like lightning, manoeuvring her limp form into a pose that resembled sleeping. Fletcher seemed to argue with himself for a second, then bent his head slowly and kissed her for a long moment.

"Wake up," he whispered. "Please."

He didn't expect a response, and he didn't get one.

With a heartbroken glance into the room, Fletcher was ushered out by an enraged Skulduggery.

They entered the kitchen in silence, not knowing what a mistake they were making, leaving her there unprotected.

* * *

><p>Erskine woke up with a whopping headache, naturally.<p>

His gaze was dizzy and unfocused, and everything was blurred. Not that there was much to see in the first place. Everything was dull and grey, lifeless.

_Oh, great. I guess I'm in prison now._

He didn't know just how right he was.

A malicious laugh sounded next to him, almost completely drowning out the sigh of relief he heard. He groaned, trying to see what was going on.

His head turned to the side, and he immediately recognised the two bodies of Valkyrie and Lucifer. She was anxious, her hands clutching at the bars separating them, her eyes wide and dark. He was doubled over, laughing like the idiot he was.

"Valkyrie?" Erskine asked, his voice slurred. "What's going on?"

"Oh, thank God," she whispered, bowing her head. Her dark hair fell around her face, masking the immense relief that exploded across it. He shoulders slumped.

"Valkyrie?"

She looked up, tears in her eyes but refusing to fall. "I thought you were dead," she whispered.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"We're stuck here. We're bound. He took my ring. We can't get out."

"That's right," Lucifer chuckled. "You're going nowhere. At least, not until I get what I want. Then you'll be leaving."

He paused for effect, and Valkyrie didn't want to hear what was he was going to say.

But she heard it anyway.

"You'll be leaving here in bits and pieces. Gift wrapped and shipped off to you pathetic little friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to collect."

And with that, he turned on his heel and left.

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Ghastly had very quickly thrown all of the bacon back into the pan and not only reheated it, he'd finished cooking it at the same time.<p>

The result was quite delicious. Or it would have been, if anyone was in the mood to bother enjoying anything. It didn't take long to figure out that after scoffing down as much as they could eat, Carma and Braelyn wouldn't do much more than push the rest of their food around the plate. Fletcher didn't even want to eat anything in the first place.

Carma downed three glasses of juice and turned back to Skulduggery.

"Can we go now?"

So. Manners were out the door, were they?

Braelyn just nodded.

Okay then. "You can both go and have a shower. You're covered in blood and smell like… well, blood."

They didn't argue, and Carma stood slowly, trudging tiredly off to the bathroom.

Braelyn stood slowly and turned to walk out the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Skulduggery asked.

She turned her head back to him and spoke softly. "I'm going to get our stuff from the hotel."

Ghastly shook his head. "Not like that you're not. Go sit down. I'll go and get everything."

Braelyn considered this for a moment, then stopped and nodded. "Okay."

Ghastly was out the door seconds later, and Fletcher pushed his plate away from him. "I don't want it. I just want to sit with Azzalyth for an while." He paused and glanced up at Braelyn. "Would you like to come with me? I mean, you don't have to, but–"

He got the first energetic response out of her since they'd left the bedroom. Braelyn vaulted upright, swayed a bit, and Fletcher had to put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Braelyn just nodded, and Fletcher let go, slowly at first, then his hand came free of her shoulder. She looked about ready to throw up.

They had all turned to the door and were walking side by side when something sounded above them.

_CRASH!_

There was the sound of a massive blow, and the tinkling of glass as it fell to the floor. Their heads snapped up and within seconds their stomachs were rolling as Fletcher teleported them to the bedroom.

"NO!" Fletcher screamed, lunging forwards.

Azzalyth wasn't on the bed anymore. She was slung carelessly over Lucifer's shoulder and he was about to jump out the window. Fury had frozen Skulduggery to the spot, and Braelyn had stumbled back, clutching a hand to her full belly.

Fletcher teleported to the other side of the room and reached a hand out, just as Lucifer turned his head back to glance at them. Fletcher's hand clamped down onto Azzalyth's blood-soaked jeans, and his fingers wrapped around something hard in her pocket.

Lucifer hissed, grabbed him by the wrist and flung his hand away. Fletcher couldn't hold on, couldn't resist the brute force that was emitted by Lucifers fingers, and he was thrown backwards as something silver tore out of Azzalyth's pocket.

A wound opened up on her thigh and she started bleeding profusely again.

Lucifer gave him a grim smile, a haunted, disgusting, horrifying impression of a grin, and even doubled over in pain, he launched himself out of the window and was swallowed by darkness as more clouds passed over the sun and cut off what little light was still around.

"Dammit!" Fletcher screamed. He pulled himself up and threw himself to the window, ready to climb out and try to follow him.

Skulduggery stopped him. His gloved hand clamped down on Fletcher's shoulder and pulled him back into the room.

"Fletcher, you can't catch him!"

Still, he struggled for a good few minutes until he realized it was useless.

"Why?" his voice broke as his legs gave out on him and he collapsed into a heap on the floor. "Just tell me Skulduggery… why?"

"Because he would have killed you," Skulduggery said shortly.

Fletcher's body shook with repressed sobs and Skulduggery simply didn't care. He'd just lost his one chance of finding Valkyrie alive. He knew the next time he saw her, he'd be staring at a corpse.

* * *

><p>Carma stood under the spray of hot water and felt the blood run from her body. Her muscles relaxed almost entirely and she had to fight an overwhelming urge to sit down, close her eyes, and drift off. Her subconscious recognised something was wrong, but for the moment she just didn't care.<p>

An unknown mental signature was closing in on the house. Carma's eyes flew open. She recognized it.

However, trapped in the shower, she couldn't do anything as her brother broke into the bedroom and picked up Azzalyth.

She heard the glass shatter, felt the sudden jump of Skulduggery's, Braelyn's and Fletcher's consciousnesses as they teleported.

She felt Skulduggery's blinding rage, Fletcher's broken emotions that couldn't settle and the unconscious presence of Azzalyth dragged out the window as Lucifer took off with her.

She also felt a glimmer of hope and satisfaction in Braelyn's mind.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: In honour of my cousins most epicest wedding ever, I'm giving you the longest chapter yet! So, it's late, I've ust gotten out of the car after a six hour drive, and Alice in Wonderland is on TV. My God, Johnny Depp is sexy ;)**

**So, I'm off to admire him for a while.**

**REVIEW!**

**Love you all, and a MASSIVE thank-you to all my reviewers. You are the highlight of my life. Honestly. School isn't fun anymore, and I've got nothing going for me at the moment. It's good to know _someone_ is enjoying my work :) Hopefully life picks up - and soon!**

**LOVE YOU ALL, MY LOVELIES!  
><strong>


	24. Power Transfer

**DISCLAIMER: I'm going to stop writing this soon.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 24. Power Transfer<strong>

Lucifer traversed through the streets, taking breaks every few minutes. He had to shift his grip on the unconscious girl slung over his shoulders every now and again. His chest hurt like all hell and he was getting lightheaded.

How dare this _bitch_ play him like that? He'd really thought… well, never mind what he'd thought. He just wanted to get her away from them, those _idiots_ that influenced her every decision. Oh, yeah, he knew the role her friends played in her life. She'd do anything she could to help them, save them – he could have guaranteed she would have given her life for them if it only meant they lived another twenty-four hours.

She cared for them a lot.

Too much.

Away from them, when he was the only one around her, he was sure she'd see it differently. She _had_ to. Lucifer knew that somewhere, somehow, it was her job to love him. To be his only. It was her destiny to live for him, to serve him… to please him.

He wasn't about to throw all that away. She thought she cared for the blonde brat, the teleporter… She was mistaken. He knew what her life was supposed to be. He knew she was his, and nobody else's. She just couldn't see it yet.

She'd come around. One way or another, she'd come round.

He'd make sure of that.

He carried on, ducking out of sight every time a civilian would walk by. On a normal day he would have simply killed them, but today he just didn't have the energy. He had his future wife unconscious on his shoulders, and a stab wound in his chest. He was busy.

The middle-aged, unimpressive woman hurried past, hoping to get home before the rain started belting down on her. Lucifer slipped quietly out of the alley he'd retreated into and set off again, winding his way closer and closer to his hideout.

* * *

><p>Skulduggery let go of Fletcher as soon as he was sure that he wouldn't run off. He didn't even seem to be able to stand. Braelyn didn't seem shocked anymore, and hurried to the other side of the room, towards the silver thing that had come out of Azzalyth's pockets, taking it gently in her hands.<p>

Carma burst into the room, clean but still with hair that dripped water everywhere. The droplets fell from the red-gold curtain as she dragged a singlet over her head and pulled it down.

"Where is she?" she cried, her blue eyes red-rimmed.

Fletcher shook his head brokenly. Braelyn was crouching, and Skulduggery was giving off the vibe that he'd shoot something.

Carma grabbed her hair off her back and squeezed it out, creating a wet spot on the floor. Skulduggery didn't care.

She gave up and ran over to Braelyn.

She froze when Braelyn turned around, smiling like a child who'd been given their Christmas presents early.

"No, surely…"

"Yes!" Braelyn answered her. "We've got it!"

Ghastly entered the room. "What's going on in her? Carma screamed for me to bring her clothes and as soon as she was half-modest she ran up here… where's Azzalyth?"

"Lucifer's got her," Skulduggery told him.

Ghastly cocked his head, confused. "Then why is Braelyn smiling?"

At that, Fletcher flicked his head up and saw what was dangling between Braelyn's fingers, and his eyes moved to the small pool of blood on the floor under the window.

"Is that...?"

Carma nodded. "The Sadrepot Blade. We have Azzalyth's blood, the blade that cut her, and therefore – we have her power."

Fletcher struggled to his feet. "You mean we can find her?"

Carma nodded. "She's still a virgin. We can transfer her powers to one of you guys and track her."

Ghastly cleared his throat. "Okay, I have a few questions. First, how do you know she's a virgin? Second, why one of us, and third, how do we track her even if we have her powers?"

Carma cocked her head at him. "Azzalyth never had a boyfriend. She never kept it a secret. And she'd tell us if she had anyway. So I know. Trust me." She shifted her position slightly. "Second, it has to be one of you. Azzalyth had the kind of power that most of us can only dream of." Her voice became admiring. "Her family's gem was the Onyx. Traditionally, onyx symbolizes strength. And you saw what happened when I got my powers back after having them at half-strength for so long."

Braelyn took up the lead. "We'd snap. We wouldn't be able to control it. Not two sets of power at once… If you guys take it, we can try to keep you subdued while the power asserts itself. It should only take a few minutes. Then we can go."

Carma spoke again. "Now, third question. These powers aren't something you have to learn to use like the magic you guys use. There's no training involved. The entire thing is instinctive. You'll know."

"Back up. So the gemstone you're affiliated with determines how strong you are?"

Braelyn hesitated before answering. "Not exactly. The gemstone determines what powers we have. The strength of the power depends entirely on the individual."

"Do you know what the other gemstones can do?"

Carma sighed irritably. "I'm Diamond. Mind infiltrating and eavesdropping and stuff. I know Braelyn's Sapphire – she can control thoughts and things like that. Azzalyth is Onyx – dead people and sixth sense. All I know is that Amethyst has the power of telekinesis, and Peridot can rearrange, replace and remove someone's memories. There's more, but I don't know them. And we're getting off track."

Braelyn interrupted. "Who's taking Azzalyth's power?"

Fletcher stood. "I'll do it."

Carma blanched a little. "Are you sure?"

He nodded firmly. "She saved my life. All I can do is try to get her back."

Braelyn nodded. "Okay. You need to drink some of the blood and coat your hands in it."

Fletcher paled and looked about ready to throw up.

Carma sighed irritably. "Didn't you see _me_ do it? Hurry up or it won't work."

After Fletcher tried to delay the inevitable by coughing a few times, Skulduggery pushed him forwards and Carma held the knife, still dripping blood, out to him.

"Drink," she ordered.

Fletcher shuddered but obligingly held the knife above his mouth and allowed some of it to trickle down his throat.

"Put your hands in the blood at the window. Hurry!"

The hard part out of the way, Fletcher pressed his palms into the small pool of gore and completely coated his hands in Azzalyth's blood.

"Now, repeat after me," Carma told him. "By the power in this blood…"

Fletcher repeated it mechanically. "By the power in this blood…"

"I claim the power carried by the sacrifice…"

"I claim the power carried by the sacrifice…" As Fletcher was speaking, the room filled with Azzalyth's power and it flitted around, playing with them, toying with their clothes and hair. Carma's short (but not indecent) skirt flicked around, and she held it down with one hand.

Ghastly stared.

"Carried in this vessel…"

"Carried in this vessel…"

The chant continued, and the power intensified. It grew almost to the strength it had been right before Azzalyth had kissed Fletcher in the wine cellar, then exploded and flowed into him.

Ghastly stopped staring.

"I command you to obey me!" Fletcher finished.

The power vanished inside him, and it was done.

Braelyn and Carma stood at the ready, waiting for an attack as Fletcher's mind was suddenly assaulted by the new, immense power. He collapsed, falling to his knees on the floor and clutched his head in agony.

A scream pierced the room and Fletcher curled in on himself, the pure torture of Azzalyth's power flooding him and taking over.

A keening noise that had nothing to do with his scream filled the room, grating against their ears and causing everyone to clutch at their ears in an attempt to block it out.

And when nothing happened when they blocked their ears, they realized the noise was _inside_ their own heads.

They all screamed and fell to their knees.

Then, as soon as it started, the sound was gone. Fletcher stopped screaming, the noise died, and they all looked around, confused.

"I thought we'd be unconscious or something," Ghastly said, "seeing as Carma's power was so terrible, and Azzalyth's is supposedly so much stronger."

Carma focused for a moment and stared at Fletcher, read his mind.

She gasped swiftly. "He's only got a portion of her power. Maybe half, if he's lucky."

Skulduggery gasped. "Will he still be able to find them?"

Fletcher looked up and everyone stared.

"What?" he asked.

Carma and Braelyn started forwards and leaned right in close to his face. They stared some more. He blinked. They stared more.

"WHAT?" he screamed. They didn't even flinch, and Ghastly spoke.

"Fletcher, look in the mirror."

Shaking his head in disbelief, Fletcher stood shakily and stumbled towards the mirror that was kept in one of the closets.

"I really don't see what the big deal–"

He stopped in the middle of the sentence and raised his hand to touch his face and whimpered.

"What…?"

Braelyn spoke so softly it was difficult to hear her. "The amount of power that was forced into you has caused a physical change. If you'd gotten all her power your entire face would have shifted slightly."

Fletcher stared at his reflection, back into his eyes which had morphed to a dark, warm chocolate brown. He blanched and blinked, staring again.

"So I've got her eyes?"

Carma nodded. "Apparently. When she takes her power back you'll probably get your own eyes back."

Fletcher, still staring at himself, nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Because you have to give it back, you know," Braelyn told him firmly. "If you keep her power for a prolonged amount of time, it'll drive you mad."

He nodded slowly again. "Okay."

"Fletcher!" Carma said sharply. "Are you listening to us?"

He whipped his head around and nodded to her, moving slowly away from the mirror. "Yeah, I'm listening."

They didn't know just how much he was listening – and just how much he didn't want to lose her eyes. He loved the fact that while she was gone, he still had part of her.

"Fletcher? Earth to Fletcher! Come on, focus!"

Ghastly grumbled something and spoke up. "All of you, showered, clean, dress your wounds. We're not leaving this house until we're all completely ready." He held up a hand when Skulduggery tried to interrupt. "Skulduggery, we're not charging randomly into a situation where lives are at stake unless we know we're as ready as can be. I want you all showered, bandaged, and having eaten something decent before we leave."

They all stared at him.

"Chop chop! The faster it's done, the faster we move out!"

Instant action as everyone leapt into motion, preparing themselves for a war.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Enjoy people! Fast update! Finally! Probably because I'd already written it or something... But you know, its all good :) I'm currently at my friend's house (that hippo I mentioned oh-so-many chapters back) and I'm about ready to fall asleep. Just had to do this, because I've spent so long reading FanFiction, so I figured I'd update then work on this homework that was supposed to be done... about a week ago...**

**READ AND REVIEW! I need reviews! Constructive Criticism and stuff...**

**And again, dedicated to my two best friends Braelyn and Carma Bain Bentley.**

**So there. Happy now?**

**BYE BYE!**


	25. Tracking and Torture

**DISCLAIMER: Either you're dumb or ignorant.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25. Tracking and Torture<strong>

Braelyn spent even less time in the shower than Carma did. When she re-joined them in the kitchen, her mass of curls was completely untameable, and her eyes were wild. She looked about ready to snap.

"Can we go yet?" she asked irritably. "I'm about to explode here!"

Well, wasn't _that_ obvious.

Carma seemed about ready to jump off the roof or something. "Let's go let's go let's go let's go let's gooooo…"

"Calm down, Carma," Ghastly chided her gently. "We're getting ready as fast as we can."

"Not fast enough," she muttered under her breath.

"I heard that."

"You think you can hear me, but in all honesty, the Babel fish is on the fritz again and you can't understand anything I'm saying."

"Fletcher, tell her to shut up."

"No! She'll kill me!"

"I will in a minute anyway."

Fletcher took a deep breath. "Carma, shut–"

He didn't even finish before Carma had one of her hidden blades pressed against his throat. "You want to tell someone what to do? Really? Call up Lucifer and tell _him_ what to do. He's more likely to listen."

Fletcher paled and seemed to choke on something. "Um, okay. Don't kill me. Please."

Carma smiled viciously and stepped back. "Gladly. Now, can we go yet?"

Skulduggery sighed and shook his head. "Sit down and eat something. Then we'll leave."

Unwilling to give the Skeleton Detective a run for his money, the two girls sat down and ate, their faces glum. Carma was barely three bites in when she asked to leave again. She got the same answer.

The second the last bite was in their mouths, she asked again. "Now?"

Skulduggery could hear the 'are we there yet?' in her tone.

He sighed and motioned to them. "Alright, everyone let's go."

The simple action of those words made everyone instantly energetic. Carma and Braelyn almost hit the roof, Fletcher jumped up, and Ghastly and Skulduggery had to attempt to keep them in line. Key word – attempt.

Fletcher and the girls immediately ran up to the bedroom and checked out the scene.

"Anything I can use?" he asked. "I need to find her. Now."

Carma studied the room for a moment, trying to find something that they could use. The rain had almost completely washed away her blood.

"Umm…" To be honest, there was nothing to use. Carma didn't really want to tell him. His newly brown eyes were wide with hope. "I don't know. Give me a sec."

Fletcher seemed to be counting under his breath. Carma shot him a glare and he quieted instantly, afraid of her thin temper. He leaned forwards, balanced on his toes, desperately trying to find something himself, but the bad weather made it almost impossible to discern anything in the room.

"Is there any blood here?" he asked finally, clinging onto the desperate hope that some remained.

Braelyn shook her head. "It's all gone. I don't know what to do…" A few sobs tore out of her, and Carma immediately gave her a fierce hug.

"We'll find her. Trust me."

Ghastly and Skulduggery had caught up with them. "Found anything?"

They shook their heads and Carma and Braelyn hugged each other all the tighter. Ghastly frowned a little and was about ready to go in and hug Carma, but Skulduggery halted everyone in the room with a single sentence.

"Fletcher has Azzalyth's blood in him. Can he track her using that?"

The two girls face palmed and Fletcher started at the use of her name. Then he got really excited.

"Can I? Can I do it?"

_Can I have the lollies, please mummy?_ Skulduggery almost – _almost _– laughed as the though drifted unnecessarily across his mind. Fletcher sounded like a two-year-old.

"I guess," Carma said slowly. "I don't know if it'll work or not."

"Worth a try," Fletcher said eagerly. "Come on, give me some space."

Carma and Braelyn nodded and stepped back from him a little, and Ghastly and Skulduggery froze in place. Fletcher, concentrating so hard it looked painful, sat down and closed his chocolate eyes, searching… reaching… but not finding.

"He looks constipated," Skulduggery said after a few minutes.

Carma shot him a glare that could wilt flowers. "Shut up and let him concentrate."

Fletcher looked up with uncertainty in his eyes. "Umm… how do I do it? You said it would be instinctive, but I honestly don't know what I'm doing."

Braelyn sighed and strode over to him purposefully, taking his face in her small hands. She stared into his eyes for a while and could feel the tears creeping up on her… the amount of times she'd awoken, screaming, to find Azzalyth holding her and soothing her like she was only a small child… she didn't want to think about it.

Braelyn, instead of staring into those eyes more and starting to cry, closed her lids and concentrated, searching in his blood for the power that they needed.

Carma stepped back, her hands scrabbling and clasping onto whatever her fingers could wrap around.

"Oh, God," she whispered. Her own mind was swimming, spiralling crazily out of control as Azzalyth's massive power swarmed through Fletcher's bloodstream. It was close, he'd access it in just a few more seconds. "Braelyn, get back!"

Without hesitation, Braelyn threw herself away from Fletcher, just as his head rolled back, his eyes blank. Carma screamed – the images buffeting her mind were too much, too powerful… She'd never liked getting vision from the dead.

* * *

><p>"<em>A dark room, bars reinforcing the concrete walls. The magic is bound in here. Nothing can be used. The psychic powers, though weak, are somewhat functioning. It's hard to tell what's going on.<em>

"_There's Azzalyth! She's in a cell… she's not moving. I can't see anything else in the cell… it's too dark. I don't think she's breathing. She's… covered in blood… her hair is matted, she's always hated the fact that it's been so hard to brush… Lucifer is close, I can feel it. Azzy, wake up! Move! He's going to hurt you!_

"_Why aren't you answering me? He's coming in! The door's opening behind me, and she's still not moving. He's… oh, God! No! Stop! Don't hurt her! She's… Ahh! No, she's alive, she's alive! No, Lucifer, put the knife down! Azzy! Oh, God!_

"_I can hear screaming… it's… beside me… Valkyrie! You're here! What's wrong, what are you doing? Do something! Help her! No she's… she's… She's behind bars. She's in a cell, too. And... Erskine! He's so close! He's in the cell next to her._

"_They're screaming… and crying… they're helpless… Azzalyth? Oh, God, Azzy! Wake up, fight! Come on, please! Don't give up! AZZALYTH! AZZY! FIGHT IT, DON'T JUST LIE THERE! WAKE UP, OH, GOD, WAKE UP! NO!"_

* * *

><p>Carma curled in on herself, screaming, her throat scraping raw at the force at which the air blew through it. Her hands clenched in on themselves, and she gasped painfully as the force of Fletcher's vision rocked through her. Her muscles spasmed and she fell, waiting to feel her body hit the floor, but something caught her.<p>

She shivered uncontrollably for a few minutes, her eyes shut tight, but she relaxed a little when she felt someone holding her tight, not letting go. She opened her eyes, just for a second, and found Ghastly holding her, and expression of concern on his scarred face.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded shakily and got to her feet.

Fletcher was on the floor, groaning and attempting to get to his knees. "Carma? What the hell just happened?"

She coughed a few times before she answered him. "Azzalyth get's them a lot. That's what we call a warning – Azzalyth is a medium, she can communicate with the dead. One of the spirits hanging around just showed you something."

"I don't remember any of it."

"I know. I saw it too. I know what's going on."

Skulduggery was absolutely still. "I understood what you said this time. He's hurting them, isn't he?"

Carma turned her glare to him. "If you understood me, you shouldn't be asking."

"So it's true," Braelyn said. "He's got the lot of them, bound and helpless. And we're no closer to finding them."

"Wait," Fletcher said. "Let me try again. I think I know what to do now."

"That or you know what not to do," Carma told him.

"Yes, or that."

"Or," she continued, "you know what you did is not what you do so you're doing what you didn't do in hope you do what you should do so as not to do what you don't do again."

Everyone froze for a moment. "What?"

Braelyn translated. "You didn't do it before, so you're doing something different this time to get it right."

Ghastly nodded slowly. "I think I got it."

Carma smiled. It wasn't pretty.

"Ready to try?"

Fletcher gulped at the murderous look in her eyes. "Okay. Give me a second." He shut his eyes and concentrated. Carma, unwilling to face defeat twice in a row, shut her eyes and tried to guide him, but as her power only worked with images, it didn't go so well. Regardless, seconds later, she was smiling as the images flashing through his mind were shown to her, and she knew where she had to go.

"Are you ready?"

Fletcher opened his eyes. The deep brown looked haunted, almost insane. "I know where to go."

Carma nodded. "So do I. Now let's hop to it."

She glances around the room and saw the passion and hate burning. She smiled and flexed her hand, her hidden blade sliding down her arm to lie against the palm of her hand. She touched it lightly, the cold steel hungering for blood.

"We're coming, Azzy."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: GAH! TWO WEEKS! I must have been on unofficial hiatus. Sorry, but exam blocks are upon me at the moment - my timetable is completly screwed up. I've so far done two hour-and-a-half maths tests, an hour and a half drama assessment, and an hour and a half art assessment. Everything else is in the next two days.**

**During exam block, senior students at my school are allowed to walk out of the grounds if they don't have an exam on. I only have a maximum of two exams a day, so, like right now, I walk with Carma Bain Bentley (who this is dedicated to, by the way) and some other freinds to the gardens up the road, sit at the cafe and eat and drink stuff. I've devided that a few minutes writing FanFiction can't help, since I get free WiFi here :)**

**So, exam blocks and other stuff. Problems, musical, depressiveness, Cadet of the Year, and other... Yeah...**

**So, hopefully since exams are almost over (only three days left, yippee!) I might find some time to write.**

**Bye bye, everyone!**

**V.V.V See this button? Click it! V.V.**V


	26. Stranded

**Disclaimer: Last one, because they're completly pointless by now XD**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 26. Stranded<strong>

They discovered they were in trouble when Fletcher tried to teleport. He'd never been there, but he saw where he had to go so he didn't think there'd be any problems.

He was an idiot.

Taking everyone hands, they all met eyes for a brief second, and Fletcher tried to move them… and nothing happened. Oh, well, they all got a whopping headache, but that didn't help much. As they'd all actually expected to go somewhere, they all lost their balance as they compensated for the teleportation – all when there was nothing to compensate for.

The two girls, with their reflexes like snakes, were the only ones who managed to remain upright. Fletcher, Ghastly, and Skulduggery, however, all fell to the ground in a heap.

"What's going on?" Fletcher asked, trying to disentangle himself from the mass of arms, legs, torsos and heads that had piled on top of him. "Why aren't we there?"

Skulduggery grunted and wrenched Ghastly's left arm away from his neck before they both broke. "I don't know. Maybe it's because you haven't been there before?"

Carma, however, knew something else was wrong entirely.

"It's not that," she told them quietly.

"Well then, what is it?"

Carma took a deep breath and checked again, just to make sure. "Yep," she said quietly. "Fletcher's powers have been completely deactivated. Azzalyth's psychic powers are overriding his existing magic, blocking it off. He can't teleport until she takes her power back."

Fletcher stuttered a little. "You mean I can't do _anything_?"

Braelyn shook her head. "Not at the moment you can't."

"But that's not fair!"

"That's life," Carma said shortly.

Skulduggery paused for a moment. "So what do we do?"

Without missing a beat, everyone turned and stared at Braelyn. "What?" she asked.

"How do we get there?"

Braelyn puffed up. "Why do you all assume I know? Carma's the one who saw the vision, not me. And Fletcher's the one with a connection to Azzalyth. Don't look at me like _I_ know what I'm doing!"

Fletcher recoiled a bit, and Ghastly glanced away, but Carma and Skulduggery looked at her calmly. "Calm Fletcher down and tell him what he needs to do to find her. Please."

Carma took up the slack. "Braelyn, you're the one who can guide him through the steps. The faster you get working, the faster we find Azzalyth."

Braelyn stared at each of them in turn for a second, and dropped her aggressive stance. "Okay. Fletcher, come here."

Fletcher, a little reluctant in case she bit his face off or something, shuffled over to her, keeping her eyes downcast. "I'm scared of both of you now."

Carma laughed. But all the humor was just… gone. "Fletcher, you've got more to worry about than us. Trust me."

He nodded shallowly and moved over to Braelyn, not wanting to make eye contact. Her hazel irises were burning, and he shied away from her a little. Sighing in exasperation, Braelyn's small hands clamped down on his shoulders with crushing force and he gasped; she caught his eyes in seconds and soon enough he was putting up no resistance and his face had relaxed.

A few minutes went by and nothing happened. They didn't even blink.

It was kinda creepy.

* * *

><p>Four minutes later they were out the door, clambering into the Bentley.<p>

With anyone else behind the wheel, Ghastly would have been terrified. Skulduggery changed his grip on the wheel with lightning quickness, spinning in into the corner as he lost the back wheels on the wet tarmac. As soon as they had traction back, he slammed his foot onto the accelerator and took off again.

They'd been speeding for about twenty minutes. God knew how Lucifer had gotten Valkyrie, Erskine and Azzalyth to a place so far away, injured and tired in such a short time, but it wasn't the pace to ask questions.

"Shit," Skulduggery hissed, just as he fish-tailed around a corner. Braelyn and Carma were thrown into Fletcher, even though they were holding onto the fastened seatbelts for dear life.

"See," Carma grunted, "if Azzalyth were here, we'd just hold onto her. She doesn't move when we his a corner too fast."

"Shut up," Skulduggery hissed, trying to peer through the thick fog that was draping over them like a curtain. "I'm trying to concentrate."

_He's a man on a mission_, she thought to Carma. The redhead smiled and nodded, knowing the feeling.

_And I don't blame him._

Fletcher added in his input. He knew exactly how Skulduggery was feeling. The two girls seemed a little shocked, but he's been able to tell exactly what they were thinking. Maybe it was the instinct he's inherited from Azzalyth, but he knew exactly what each face meant, exactly how they were going to act and react to certain situations.

The two girls nodded and they continued on in silence for a few more minutes. Ghastly sucked in a strained breath when Skulduggery almost wrapped them around a tree, but he managed to steer into the swerve and get them back onto the road.

"Goddammit, Skulduggery, don't kill us!" Carma shouted.

"SHUT UP!" he roared back. "I WILL KILL US ALL IF IT MEANS I CAN FIND HER FASTER!"

"THAT DEFEATS THE FUCKING PURPOSE!" Carma screamed right back.

Skulduggery opened his jaw to shout right back, right when Fletcher shouted, "LANGUAGE, CARMA!"

That wouldn't have been normal under any circumstances, but what made it even weirder was that it wasn't only his voice that shouted. Echoing behind his own call was the unmistakeable sound of Azzalyth's chiding bark, yelling at Carma as well...

* * *

><p>Lucifer dodged under the low door frame and tried desperately to straighten up, but a breath hissed between his teeth at the stabbing pain in his chest.<p>

He almost laughed. Stabbing pain. It was kind of funny. Cause, you know, he'd been _stabbed_ by his little sister.

And she hadn't even tried to heal him. He'd, at least, bandaged her up. He needed her alive. If she died, so did her power. But she didn't need him alive. She was quite happy to kill her own brother.

He wondered what his mother would have thought of that.

Then again, he also wondered what she would have thought of him. Not that he cared. He'd tried on more than one occasion to kill her, but dammit, his sister was such a pain in the ass. She, Azzalyth and Braelyn were always there, stopping him, trying to ruin him.

He'd only every wanted power. Who didn't? He just wanted to rule those stupid little girls. If he had their powers… only God knew what he could to then. If he'd had Braelyn's powers it would have been simple, but she was out of the question… Her innocence had been taken from her a long time ago.

But his sister… He'd had a good plan. Take her powers and torment them until he was their only chance of sanity, survival. He'd tried it on Azzalyth, and it had damn near worked, but that curly-haired brat had come in at precisely the wrong time, destroyed everything he'd worked so hard to build. So he'd practiced.

He'd practiced on anyone that wouldn't be immediately missed.

He'd bent them, twisted them… and he'd enjoyed it. In the end, he was the only one they cared about. They never knew it was him that was hurting them. He'd always told them he'd make it go away… and they'd believe him… And they'd never know.

When they were too broken to use anymore, he'd just make them hurt themselves. That was probably the most fun part. Then he'd dump them… and n o-one would ever find him out. There was never any evidence, and he made sure to make each of them hurt themselves in a different way, never anything that could possibly tie them together.

He'd been proud of himself.

Too proud.

Overconfident.

He'd though talking the rest of his sister's powers would stabilize him, make him more powerful. Then he had to go and taunt them further. He would have gotten away with it if that damn skeleton and his little friends hadn't gotten in the way. He'd forced Dimitria to work for him, take away and replace their memories. And if they hadn't had help, they would have forgotten everything until it was too late, and it wouldn't have been a goddamn problem then.

He'd just have to deal with it. And so he would.

Right after he'd dealt with Azzalyth.

It was all her fault. She was the one that had tricked him… She'd made him think it was real… Oh, how he wanted it to be real… She was the one with what he wanted… the power to speak with the dead…

Speaking to the dead was something he'd always wanted to do. They had so much to share, so much to tell… And she was throwing it all away. He could tell; she shied away from the Spirit World just as much as his sister shied away from her power to control people.

They were either dumb or ignorant, but he had no wish to bother himself with them. He just wanted power. That power was exactly what he wanted… needed… to take over the magical community. Mortal could all go and die, as far as he was concerned, but the magical community… they had something he wanted.

Power to destroy a world that had been nothing but cold to him since birth.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, I be very sorry... It's not as late as the other one though... by, like... thirteen hours...**

**But anyway, I've been beyond busy, even with the holidays. I'm kinda getting sick of it. But going away was good, because guess what? I SAWDED BRAELYN! Babe, I love you so much XD And hopefully I'll see her again soon. Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY a little miss Carma Bain Bentley, who turns 16 tomorrow, I love you too :) Chapter dedicated to Braelyn. Thanks to reviewers (and this may be a bit of a list):**

**mimi12349876**

**Velika Silvertounge**

**Luna Kelly (and to you, also the PMs)**

**Onyx Shadows**

**Rosalie Storm**

**Diana Obelisk**

**Slythen**

**Jay Foren**

**FANFICTION4THEWIN**

**Valkyrie4Ever**

**Raychaell Dionzeros**

**MaximumCheeseCake**

**SecretMuch**

**And to all my fabulous Anonymous reviewers, too :)  
><strong>

**So, thank you to all my reviewers, no matter how long ago it was :) You guys are the reason I keep writing :) Even more so than Braelyn threatening me with a knife, you guys are the reason I keep at it.**


	27. Mental Bond

**DISCLAIMER: Okay, enough. Last one.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 27. Mental Bond<strong>

The Bentley slammed to a stop hard enough to crack the brake discs. The keys were only half out of the ignition before Skulduggery had thrown the door open – almost off its hinges, mind you – and launched himself out of the driver's seat. His skeletal wrist got caught in the wheel and he almost broke bones wrenching it free.

Ghastly looked on with shock while the other three clambered out of the back and stood on the road, ready and waiting.

"Ready to go yet?" Fletcher asked. "We need to get them outta there!"

Skulduggery finally realized that he had to let go of the keys and reach around to get it out properly, and when he could finally think straight (well, half straight) again, he'd whipped around and taken off, not waiting for the others to catch up.

"Dammit!" Carma shouted, turning around and breaking into a sprint, dragging Fletcher along behind her. Braelyn vaulted over a pole, bounced off a wall and cut Skulduggery off.

"Slow down!" she shouted. "You go in there without a plan and he'll cut you down without blinking!"

Skulduggery went to throw her aside, but her hand clamped down on his bony wrist and she used his momentum to spin him right around, throwing him back into Fletcher.

"_Listen_ to me you bloody idiot! You've seen him fight, you know how fast and strong he is – and he's still injured! Let me or Carma go first. You're less likely to get killed that way!"

Skulduggery's jaw worked and he gave off the vibe that he was about to go Vile on their ass, but he nodded, a jerky movement of his head, and pushed her forwards, ripping his arm out of her grip. "Hurry up then. Get moving."

Carma and Braelyn nodded to each other, and Carma took off in the lead, her hidden blades sliding down her arms. Braelyn whipped out a few knives, pressing the flat of the blade down the length of her arm, and she kept running, Skulduggery and Fletcher right behind them.

Ghastly was still getting out of the car and locking up.

* * *

><p>The corridors were even more twisty and turny than in the Sanctuary. More and more corridors sprouted off, and at almost every fork, Carma turned right. Once or twice she turned left, but it wasn't really often enough to warrant notice.<p>

They ended up finding themselves at a door with a lock on it. Carma, using her amazing powers of awesomeness (so she thought), knelt by it, retracted her blades, and listened intently. Everyone else, huffing and panting, tried to hold their breath, tried to keep quiet. Any noise could completely cover up Carma's hearing, and they'd never get in.

Carma leaned right in, holding her ear in close, listening for the tiny, _almost_ completely silent click that let her know she'd hit the jackpot. She moved the dial left with infinite patience, something Skulduggery had never seen before with her. Still, she listened. That single sound and she'd blow the door off.

Nothing.

Nothing..

Nothing…

_Click_.

Carma smiled to herself and hissed to Braelyn: "_Lefty loosy righty tighty._"

Braelyn clamped her hand down over her mouth with insane strength, doubling over for just a second. When she stood, they all saw a hint of laughter in the depths of her eyes – that simple quote was something Azzalyth had repeated to them over and over every time they tried to open a door or turn on a tap at her house. Her parents had fixed everything in opposite, and she loved quoting Jeff Dunham to help them remember – even if it was backwards.

Carma, having unlocked the door, stood quietly and motioned that they could all breathe. Two pairs of lungs imploded and gasps filled the room, while the two Australian girls stood ready. Ghastly took in a few deep breaths and started breathing normally, and Fletcher, who did nowhere near as much physical exercise as the others, collapsed against a wall.

Two minutes later, Skulduggery was about to take the door off himself, angry as he was. They'd all kinda caught their breath, and the two girls had laid out a plan. One look from Carma and they knew there'd be no room for discussion.

Ghastly nodded slowly, Fletcher finished gasping, and they all looked at Skulduggery.

"What?" he asked.

Braelyn glanced around. "What, what? So, what, no: '_I'm gonna go insane and kill everybody if we don't get in there now_?'"

Skulduggery was perfectly still. "I'm going to kill him as soon as I see his face. Problem solved. Now, let's go, before I decide to kill everybody in a ten-kilometre radius."

Carma smiled grimly. "That's my boy."

Skulduggery and Ghastly blew the unlocked door off its hinges.

"Waste of my handiwork," mumbled Carma.

* * *

><p>Lucifer knew they were there. He just chose to ignore them.<p>

I mean, please. He'd outwitted them before. To an extent.

But for them to think they could burst into his own place and take him unawares? They was so uncouth. They might as well have knocked. It's not like he had anywhere else to run – not that he would, now that he had Azzalyth, the old bastard and the little girl. He allowed himself a small smile.

"Little pig, little pig, let me come in," he murmured.

The girl, Valkyrie, turned her head to him. "You sick bastard," she whispered. He voice had been worn out from screaming. He'd had to restrain himself from singing along. "He's going to kill you. And I'll enjoy every minute of it."

He shot her A Look, and she shied away from the bars. "Don't come near me."

Lucifer completely ignored her, stalking forwards. "Do you and to go have some fun?" he asked innocently. She shook her head like a maniac, trying to crawl back into the corner. She was powerless, helpless, and this idiot was going to kill her.

He pressed her back against the bars, and a hand reached through, resting on her shoulder. She threw a panicked glance over her shoulder at Erskine, who looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Be strong," he mouthed to her.

Easy for him to say.

Lucifer laughed. "Oh, we're going to have so much fun…"

Valkyrie steeled herself. She'd faced off against the Faceless Ones before and she hadn't been so scared. Well, to be fair, she hadn't been cornered and without magic – but that didn't make them any less indestructible. She'd just felt… safer… with magic on hand.

Erskine looked up at Lucifer, almost shying away. "No," he whispered. He straightened his spine and Lucifer could see the resolve in his eyes as he moved back towards the bars and reached and arm through, clamping down on Valkyrie's shoulder. "Leave her alone!"

Lucifer laughed. It was a laugh he'd perfected over time, one that allowed whoever he had to view him as dangerous, insane, and yet totally in control. They both flinched.

His hands reached forwards, but he had to stop and pause for a second when there was a painful twinge in his chest. He grunted against the pain and went to go back when a tiny sound behind him made him turn.

Azzalyth had opened her eyes.

Granted, it wasn't all the way – it was more of the type of eye-opening someone did when they had to get up and go to school in the middle of winter. Kind of half-way there, but with a fuzzy sort of chaos in the depths of one's brain that took a few minutes to work through.

Lucifer's smile grew.

This was perfect! She'd woken up just enough to be aware of what was happening to her without being able to fight back. He couldn't feel the amount of power shrouding her that he normally felt, and by the feel of it, the power was in no hurry to find her again. She felt… less than half full. Under half of the power was absolutely nowhere in his range, but the other half had been completely subdued.

Perfect…

* * *

><p>Fletcher knew she was close. It was difficult to imagine her being as far away as she was – he could sense her, feel the rest of her power seeking him out. As what was finding him met up with what was <em>inside<em> of him, he felt the most incredible rush of warmth and joy he'd ever experienced.

Those tendrils of power were pulling him, tugging him, trying to drag him away. Without knowing it, he found himself smiling. He felt the power light up his insides, and he broke into a surprisingly silent sprint, and, breathing easily, he followed the tug of _her_ that he felt in his chest. He dashed past Carma and Braelyn, motioned for them all to follow him, and took off.

_This_ must have been what Carma had been following before. This wondrous feeling of _rightness_.

He ducked as he vaulted around corners, spinning and twisting his body to take the impact of the walls but distributing the force of it through him, moving with it and dissipating the power of the blow.

So _this_ was how Azzalyth moved. He could almost imagine himself _being_ her, feel _her_ muscles moving, feel the air tugging _her_ hair out behind him as he ran.

Shocked at the sensation, but immensely pleased by it, he realized something with a start.

Their minds were merging.

He could feel the exact movements that he was doing now being done a hundred times over until Azzalyth had gotten them perfect. He experienced all the muscle strains and migraines she had endured trying to master and control every aspect of herself, physical and mental.

He could feel the joy and warmth that radiated through her every time she got something right and mastered a new skill. He could feel the love and pride that exploded through her as she trained her friends in the same way.

However, while he could feel the good, he could also feel the bad.

He experienced first-hand the horror she had come home to. _He saw everything_. Revulsion pulsed through him as he saw her family's bodies mutilated almost beyond recognition. He _felt_ her heart breaking, tearing apart piece by piece as what had happened sunk in, felt her helplessness, felt her rage.

Felt the grief that was too strong for tears.

He suffered the exact emotions that she suffered, and he fell with her as her muscles that she had trained so rigorously collapsed and she landed on the floor in a heap.

She could have saved them. She could have helped them.

It was her fault they were dead.

Fletcher started and almost lost his footing as he found that rage, grief and guilt buried inside of her, the same rage, grief and guilt that he realized she still carried today. He delved deep into those emotions, getting caught up in them and being buffeted by their intensity.

He tried to get out, be he was trapped and drowning…

His surprise mirrored Azzalyth's own as she found him. The emotions didn't stop, but he could feel her consciousness.

_What the hell are you doing here?_ Her rage intensified, becoming the dominant emotion.

_I don't know! I don't know how I got here, or how I'm supposed to get back! Please, Azzalyth, I'm trying to help you._

She didn't seem to believe it. _You don't need to be here Fletcher. You shouldn't have even been able to- _She cut off as she felt her power joining them.

…_You performed the ritual?_

_Yeah, it was the only way we could find you._

_You _idiot_! Trying to take on this kind of power could have killed you! If you don't get rid of it soon, you'll go insane! Get to Carma. Now. She'll get rid of it for you._

_What? But we've almost found you._

Shock radiated through both of them. _Fletcher, you can't be here._

_What are you talking about?_

_Are you kidding? Remember the last time you saw Lucifer? He killed you!_

Fletcher's blood almost froze in his veins. _I… died?_

_Yes, you dip shit! Fletcher, he killed you once, he'll do it again. And this time, I won't be able to bring you back._

_You saved my life, I'm saving yours._

_No, Fletcher. _He. Will. Kill. You._ I can't handle that. Look around. You know what losing my family did to me. _Now grief swelled up around them like high tide._ If I lost you, I'd lose myself. I've only ever been able to see spirits. But yours… I called it back… and it listened, but it took an enormous amount of power to do it. You've got my power now, Fletcher… If you die, then I lose my power, I lose you…_

_You won't lose me._

She sighed. Mentally. _Fletcher, it's too dangerous. Just, please. Go. Don't come back. Tell Carma and Braelyn to purge my power from you. Trust me. Please. Don't do this._

Fletcher felt her emotions, felt a grief so deep words couldn't describe it.

_Hang on, love. I'm on my way._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah, yeah, over a month, busy, excuses, blah, blah, blah. Feel free to kill me. Might get me out of my maths assignment. And my other assignments (You wanna know which ones? Okay-) including biology (which I'm going n camp for tomorrow), art, chemistry, English (due tuesday and I haven't started it) and my upcoming drama assignment.**

**So, aside for the fact that killing me would get me out of my assignments, I have been busy - this musical is less than two weeks away and I've got a million things to do and I am now is a fight with my best friend :( So now my group of friends is split down the middle.  
><strong>

**Shit.  
><strong>

**Well, I'm off to be depressed and do this hideous amount of work all due in (what feels like) two seconds.  
><strong>

**Goodbye, my dears.**


	28. Evil Unleashed

**Chapter 28. Evil Unleashed**

Skulduggery couldn't believe it as Fletcher sped up, dodging around corners in much the same way the girls did. Without hesitation, he sped up and followed Fletcher's lead. Carma and Braelyn had a kind of blank look on their faces as he passed them and started leading the group, but Skulduggery noticed something.

He wasn't breathing quickly.

Something had happened to fletcher, and Skulduggery wasn't entirely sure what it was, but something about him… changed…

He sped up, moved with an unearthly grace, and seemed focused on something far away…

And he stumbled.

Not the blundering fall he normally would have suffered, if he was himself, but he lost his footing and it took him a second to regain his balance. And them something came over his face.

It was the look he'd had on him when he'd looked at Valkyrie those few years ago. The look Valkyrie had on her face when she looked at Skulduggery.

Fletcher was in love.

Well, he'd kind of expected it but… he'd known her for two days. Less than that…

It was official.

Fletcher had reached a whole new level of 'idiot'. But who was he to judge? He was in love with someone over four hundred years his junior. He'd just have to slap Fletcher later.

The thing that surprised him most out of all of this, though, was the little comment Fletcher made as his expression turned from shock to defiance to love to hardness. Skulduggery had never seen such determination in him, and apart from the fact that it was a little unnerving, Skulduggery couldn't help but be a little proud of him.

The sentence that Fletcher murmured made Skulduggery think that maybe, maybe Fletcher wasn't all too bad after all.

"Hang on, love. I'm on my way."

He stumbled himself for a second when _it_ hit him. The feeling of imminent dread that only he could match.

Skulduggery felt it. He was pretty sure everyone else did too, later when they were closer, but having that same darkness inside himself… He felt it.

He felt Darquesse rise.

And it only made him angrier. Darquesse hadn't reared her ugly head in almost two years. For Valkyrie to lose to her now, he knew something big was happening. He now knew that he wouldn't have to worry about her, but he was absolutely petrified for Azzalyth and Erskine. He could only imagine their fear.

Seeing _that…_

As he was running, he tried to think of ways to subdue her without having to hurt her. He really couldn't bring himself to do it now… Not after what they'd experienced. Hurting her would hurt himself, but more importantly…. It would hurt Valkyrie.

With nothing left, he pushed himself faster, desperately trying to reach her… and reach her in time.

* * *

><p>Valkyrie didn't want to watch it.<p>

Lucifer had turned sick, deciding that instead of torturing her while she was without magic, he would torture Azzalyth while she was immobile. Bastard.

Valkyrie didn't want to watch it, but she couldn't look away. As Lucifer exited her cell and headed over to Azzalyth, she threw herself at the bars.

"No! Don't touch her!"

Lucifer just laughed. She saw the madness creeping around him, and she could feel her control over her sanity slipping.

_Just let it slip, just this once,_ the voice inside her whispered. She clamped down on it with an iron control, something she'd still yet to master, even after four years.

_No_.

She shook her head, desperately trying to clear it, but when Lucifer opened the door to Azzalyth's cell, she almost slipped up.

She felt the cold magic of death creep around her, and even without her ring, she could feel the shadows twining around her fingers. Her fist clenched reflexively, and she felt the shadows pull taught around her tendons.

She smiled, and lashed out at the door.

Although she had some shadows at her disposal, they weren't as strong as she'd expected. They rattled the door, but it was far from being burst off its hinges. Valkyrie snarled and curled the shadows around her hand again – with the same result.

Lucifer paused and looked back at her, a sarcastic grin darkening his features.

"Oh, is the little bird trying to fly? Sorry, but I've clipped your wings. They won't be growing anytime soon. And when they do, I'll just nip them off again!" He giggled like a child, but no young one could ever have the amount of insanity in such a simple sound.

He turned back and started towards Azzalyth again.

She knew what he was going to do to her, but she couldn't do anything – literally. She had no control over her muscles, and Azzalyth tried to brace herself for the worst. Somewhere in her subconscious, she recognized the vibe Lucifer was giving off, and she tried to do something, _anything_ to stop him.

All she managed was opening her eyes, and she couldn't even do that properly, but it was enough.

She half-saw a blurry figure stop and turn back towards her, and she sighed with something like relief and dread as it stopped its advance to a shaking dark ball.

So she'd helped someone else by offering herself up as bait.

She could live with that. She'd never forgiven herself for not protecting her parents, but she was _never_ going to make that mistake again.

Thinking of her family hurt. Thinking of everything that had happened in the past few days hurt even more.

Carma kidnapped. Fletcher dead. Valkyrie hurt.

She was a bad luck charm.

While the blurred figure stated towards her, she thought about separating herself from everyone. If she did, maybe her bad luck would follow her and everyone would be okay.

She dismissed the thought as soon as it crossed her mind. Carma and Braelyn got into enough trouble by themselves. They needed someone to keep them in line.

Azzalyth pondered things and let herself get caught up in everything when she felt it.

A presence in her mind.

She automatically reached out, praying it was Braelyn and she was going to tell her that everyone was safe, and she was going to come in and take Valkyrie and Erskine away from this horrible place. And then the shock hit her.

This wasn't Braelyn, or even Carma.

This was Fletcher.

And so the conversation went on. When Fletcher told her he was coming to rescue her, she flipped. She begged, pleaded, tried desperately to get him to turn back, but he was stubborn. He refused, then told her to _hang on_.

So she was supposed to _hang on_ while he was coming to risk his life – _again_?

As her friend back in Australia so aptly put it – Oh, _hells_ no!

She reached for the mental link, that connection, and tried to control him. With her power coursing through his veins, it should have been simple to force his muscles to lock up on him, making him immobile. It _should_ have been child's play.

But she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to do something like that. Something within her ached at the thought of causing him pain, and trying to stop him. She didn't want him to get killed, but by God, she didn't want to die either.

With nothing left but to hope that Carma and Braelyn would talk some sense into him, all she could do was brace herself as Lucifer closed in. His sick, hot breath tickled her neck, and his muscular arms pinned her wrists down, making her even more immobile than she already was. Distantly, she heard cages rattling, something breaking, some snarling… but it was to no use. The thrashing went on, but nothing was going to stop now.

It was too late. She was royally screwed.

As if hearing her thoughts, Lucifer let a sadistic grin toy with his features, and she instantly tried to recoil. With no space to move, all she could to was shiver as he pressed a sloppy kiss to her neck, and a whimper escaped her throat.

As if in answer to that, something smashed, but Azzalyth couldn't keep herself together, anymore, and she slipped away as her body shut down and everything stopped…

* * *

><p>With nothing left, Valkyrie slammed against the doors a few more times, begging to someone, <em>anyone<em>, to get out of the cage. The weak shadows weren't enough, and while Lucifer closed in on Azzalyth, there was nothing left inside of Valkyrie but pure, unrestrained, feral rage.

Lucifer pinned Azzalyth's hands above her head and leaned right in. Valkyrie, who had the display in the basement/cellar fresh in her mind, couldn't bear to watch as her moved in closer and pressed a kiss to Azzalyth's scarred skin.

But it was the whimper that did it.

Valkyrie knew, without a doubt, that Azzalyth _didn't_ whimper. Azzalyth reminded her of herself a little; always the strong one. Doing whatever was needed to do to survive. Everything that Valkyrie had seen showed that Azzalyth was the protector, the one anyone could rely on, the one no-one had to worry about.

And this prick had taken all of that away from her.

Something inside of Valkyrie broke, shattered into pieces and ground into dust. The mental barrier that she had concocted fell away, and Darquesse smiled.

Hurt, pain, red, darkness, burning, agony…

Darquesse knew none of it. All that was around her was freedom, blood and pleasure. Her hand snapped back and flew forwards, knocking the cage door clean off. The little ant, Lucifer, the pain in the ass, looked up, right in time to catch her fist with his face.

Without her ring she was – and she hated to admit it – _weak_, but that would all soon be fixed. All she had to do was get him to tell her where it was.

"Now, honey," she chimed. "I assume you've heard of me? You know, the one who's going to kill the world and all that? Yeah? Okay. Now, if you don't want to die, you'll tell me where my ring is." Utter bullshit, of course. She was going to kill him whether he like it or not.

But all he did was laugh.

"Oh, I've heard of you all right," he muttered, coughs wracking him as he spat out a mouthful of blood. "I know all about you. In fact, I think I know more about you that you do."

A little confused, Darquesse halted her fist in mid-air. "If you know who I am, you know what I can do. Now," she hissed, leaning in close. "_Give me my fucking ring._"

"I don't think so," he replied. "You see, when you don't have that ring, you're just like little Valkyrie, aren't you? The shadows that she commands _with_ the ring are the shadows you command _without_ it. So, although you're elemental magic has been damn near sextupled, you're still a little weak with the Necromancy. And I think I can take you."

Darquesse smiled again. "You're wrong."

As her fist began its crushing descent, she halted it again as Lucifer laughed a second time. "You kill me and you'll never get your ring back."

"No matter," Darquesse told him indifferently, shrugging. "I can always get a new one made."

"Ah," he told her, smiling again. God, she hated that smile. "But it won't be the same now, will it? The same ring you used to fight Vile over Dublin. The same ring that has shown you through so many years. It'll be like Skulduggery losing his head. It'll do, but it's never… right…"

With a hiss, she picked him up single-handedly by the front of his shirt and slammed him against a wall. He coughed again. "You _really_ wanna kill me, don't you? But you won't. Not yet."

Darquesse pondered for a second. "I'm not sure. That's different."

Lucifer coughed, spat up another mouthful of blood. "See? Indecisiveness… Gives me an advantage."

The last line was rushed, and somehow he managed to catch her off guard. His arms flew up, slamming into her elbow, putting crushing pressure on her tendon and causing a reflex reaction, making her drop him. Even as he fell her foot shot out, but his own hands were already there, using the kick as momentum to vault up over her head onto the other side.

He landed with a loud grunt, his injuries sending a ripple of pain through him strong enough for Darquesse to _watch_ the vibrations shiver through his body. In her head, she laughed. This was hilarious. That saying, _it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt?_

Well, sometimes the two managed to coincide.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I died. 'Nuff said.**

**Well, technically it wasn't _me_, but my grandma did :( I was pall-bearer at her funeral. And the next day I turned 16. A five hour road trip back from a funeral. Not the best way to say goodbye to childhood.**

**But I may as well have died. Shit went down then hit the fan, but I'm back to writing now, so I guess things are starting to look up. So here's the next chapter, and I'll try and write. For the next week my parents are away, so I'm looking after my brother and the two cats, but I'll see what I can do.**

**So yeah...**

**Bye bye!**


	29. Death of a Friend

**Chapter 29. Death of a Friend**

Lucifer's body shook uncontrollably as Darquesse started to smile. The ripples of pain lancing through him made him cringe away from everything he was, but all he could do was try to keep his eyes from screwing shut. If he closed them, she'd strike, and that'd be the end.

She laughed. "Oh, Lucifer. If I was Valkyrie right now, I may have found your strength attractive. But honestly, you're just too… alive, for my liking."

And she lunged.

The world slowed and stopped as she closed in with ungodly speed. A shrill giggle escaped her throat as her hand whipped forwards, aiming for his trachea. Ripping it out would be fun, she was sure, but she thought of crushing it first... and maybe toying with it a little. She'd always enjoyed games.

As he ducked and dodged away from her, though, she found herself getting less and less amused. It was fun to start off with, sure… but now she just wanted him dead.

"Just _die_!" she hissed, closing in and bring her fist back.

But Lucifer laughed. "Maybe next time, sweet thing."

And he was gone.

One second he was in front of her, the next he'd vanished.

Snarling, all she could see as she whirled around in a fit of rage was Azzalyth, unmoving. A slow smile crept menacingly across her features, and she stalked forwards. What an… _adorable_ little sacrifice. With her long, thick hair covering most of her and her body coated in blood, she looked simple… _delicious_.

And yet, Darquesse, for probably one of the first times in her short existence, felt pity.

She pitied the creature in front of her… but no matter. Soon she would be out of her misery.

A slamming pain in her side made her turn around, and even as she was facing her new attackers, she'd ripped out the knife and healed the hole in her ribs.

Braelyn.

"You bitch," she snarled. "What, you're not even going to say hello? How rude."

And Braelyn smiled. A brief hint of confusion flashed across Darquesse's face, but she knew what was happening.

Braelyn, Carma, and Skulduggery were going to attack her, distract her, and Ghastly and Fletcher were going to get Azzalyth out.

So much for that plan.

Darquesse stood gracefully and started talking. "So, if you won't talk to me, how about I talk to you? How have you been? Anything new?" While she chatted away, she kept a sharp eye out for any movement. If any of them moved, she'd take off their head without any hesitation. "On another note, have any of you seen my ring?"

Carma's blue eyes managed to flick almost simultaneously at Azzalyth and Darquesse, while still keeping her bearings in amongst everyone else. "I'm afraid I missed it. You'll forgive me for being a little preoccupied," she replied calmly, "but my mind has been elsewhere. Now I have a question for you. Where is Lucifer?"

Darquesse's brow puckered for an instant. "I'm not sure, actually. He ran away."

And seconds later, Fletcher struck.

It was probably the most unexpected outcome Darquesse could have asked for. And possibly one of the most amusing.

A quick step to the side and she expected him to whizz straight past her, but his feet compensated for the extra momentum and he pivoted around, bringing up his arm to connect with the back of her neck. Without the time to be surprised, she reacted.

Her neck moved forwards with the blow to avoid breaking, and as her body flew towards a wall, her arm snapped around, catching him under the chin and throwing him backwards.

And he laughed.

Darquesse stood and started back towards him, and for the first time, she looked him in the face. His eyes…

"Oh, so now you're part of her, are you? That explains it. Taking your girlfriend's power seems kinda desperate, though." She sighed. "Oh well. Now it's just going to be more fun to kill you all."

Carma cleared her throat. "Darquesse, we don't want to hurt you. Just give us Valkyrie. That's all we're asking."

Darquesse damn near doubled over. "Oh, Carma," she cried, holding her sides together. "You know just as much as your brother, don't you? Then you'll all know you can't defeat me. I'm going to tear each and every one of you apart, limb by bloody limb."

Skulduggery stepped forwards. "Come on, Valkyrie. Snap out of this and let's go home."

Darquesse shook her head. "This time it's different, Vile. I've got power you've never even dreamed of. All I need is my ring, and this miserable little world will come to an end. Now get out of my way."

There was a pause, and Carma murmured, "Well, at least it's not a ten minute monologue that you're making us sit through."

"No," Darquesse hissed. "Those sorts of villains have always pissed me off. Come to think of it, you are too."

Braelyn shook her head and let loose another dagger. "From happy, to insane, to angry. Wow." She let out a long, low whistle. "Honey, you've got PMS to the _max_."

A growl, a movement, and Braelyn had been thrown across the room. The breath exploded out of her as she hit a wall, and it was in times like these that she really appreciated Azzalyth's tough training. Throwing her hands out, she braced herself against a wall and dodged forwards, right under Darquesse's fist. A few quick moves later and they were staring each other down.

Darquesse stood straight and leant against a wall, folding her arms across her chest. "Huh. This might actually be fun."

And she attacked.

* * *

><p>It was dark, it was cold, and it was suffocating. The darkness blocked any vision possible, stretching on endlessly to oblivion, the cold was piercing, painful, and the suffocating… well, it was pretty self-explanatory. There was no air in her lungs to breathe, no warmth in the endless arctic sea of nothingness.<p>

Azzalyth, floating in that nothingness, had never felt so alone in her life. Her power was gone, had slipped away as she slipped away herself. She blinked; nothing came into focus. The nothingness had no air or oxygen; breathing was impossible. Her lungs burned – the only thing on fire in the frigid space. Lack of oxygen made her dizzy, and as everything she knew, had or thought slipped away, her consciousness grew blank and the nothingness became all she was.

* * *

><p>Skulduggery watched on in horror as Darquesse faced down Braelyn, Carma and Fletcher. He had to admit, Fletcher dying wasn't the most unattractive of ideas, but he could only imagine what Azzalyth would feel like if he managed to get himself killed.<p>

Darquesse strode forwards confidently, and he was becoming more and more concerned. Never before had Darquesse managed to hold such control over Valkyrie's body. There's always somehow managed to be some life in her, but now…

It was all gone.

She ducked, dodged, and took hits, all the while dishing it back out and hitting them all back. One punch would send them flying back into a wall, but they'd be back in the melee seconds later, dodging hits and throwing each other out of harm's way.

And Skulduggery almost turned into Vile.

He was pissed. And that was normally what did it. Here was some bitch, taking over his girlfriend's body, trying to hurt his friends, and he was just meant to _put up_ with that?

Oh. Hells. No.

Oh, great. Now all the females in his house were rubbing off on him. If he'd had a body, he may well have grown a uterus.

He pulled out his gun in seconds and with his trained (eye? He didn't have any, but something along those lines) he sighted and pulled the trigger, knowing full well Darquesse would simply heal it, so he wasn't _really_ hurting Valkyrie. Was he?

The shot echoed in the small rooms, and a small flash of red appeared just above Darquesse's black sleeve. The bullet had pierced right through her wrist and had hit one of her arteries.

Blood poured, voice boxes rattled, muscles clenched.

And Darquesse turned on him.

With a wave of shadows more powerful than _quite_ necessary, she threw the other against a wall, knocking their heads against the concrete and rendering them all unconscious.

Even Ghastly, who was still standing in the doorway.

"Well," Skulduggery said. "That was a bit unnecessary, now wasn't it?"

Darquesse smiled. "Come on," she taunted, holding up her wrist and showing him the already-healed flesh. "You know what I want."

Skulduggery cocked his head infuriatingly. "Are you sure?" As he spoke, his gaze drifted around, so while his face still stared her down, he checked that everyone was breathing. "I may not, you know. I may just be really good at guessing."

Darquesse leant against a wall again. It seemed to be becoming an annoying habit of hers. "You know. What else would I want?"

"Oh, I don't know. Let me guess…" Skulduggery held up one gloved hand and started ticking things off his fingers. "One, your ring. Two, the destruction of the world. Three, the ultimate power. Four, a battle with Lord Vile. Five… Umm… I'm not sure… A puppy?"

Darquesse gave a forced laugh and glared at Skulduggery. "You got four of them right."

"You mean you _don't_ want to destroy the world?"

Darquesse didn't bother answering. "Enough with the quips. Where's Vile?"

Skulduggery cocked his head at an even more annoying angle. "You're kidding, right? He's not getting out if I can– " and he struck.

His bones stiffened and started to writhe as shadows leapt up around him, twisting and contorting. His body bucked and coiled under the pressure, and dark armour formed out of the darkness and melded into his bones, the evil of it all really quite exhilarating.

The time for speaking had finished; quips and taunts no longer had a place in the room, and darkness exploded outwards.

And finally, finally… a true smile from the bitch. Vile watched on in silence as Darquesse finally let true happiness (granted, it was a sadistic kind of happiness) shine on her features. If she wasn't insane, she would have been beautiful.

But then, who was he to judge? He was the ultimate evil _long_ before she was.

"So," she said, that sickening smile darkening her face. "Shall we?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: You proud of me? Damn, I'm proud of me, and I didn't even know I could do that...**

**Anyway, I've been slightly more dedicated to this chapter than the past couple, so it's a bit earlier :) No two month wait! Yay! Well, apart from the fact that I think I just killed off my main character...  
><strong>

**But it's all good :) I'm getting Kingdom of the Wicked in a day or two, going to a festival with possibly my closest friend, and my internet is working :) Things are looking up :)  
><strong>

**So, before I run over the 'limit' *cough cough* for my authors note, I simply must thank all of my reviers and favouriters. When I hadn't updated in AGES, someone read it and reviewed anyway, and THAT was what made me start writing again. It's difficult to write without any stimulus, and that coment (which somehow involved potatoes) was the kick up the bum I needed to kickstart the next few sentences, which led into the rest of the chapter.  
><strong>

**So, authors note is now long. Too long.  
><strong>

**Please review! Love you all!  
><strong>

**And thank you :D  
><strong>


	30. Battle Plans

**Chapter 30. Battle Plans**

To be honest, Darquesse expected him to attack first. She didn't see any point in exerting herself unless she had to, and she'd always liked aggressive men. Little wimpy bitches never struck a chord with her – nor did they strike a chord with Valkyrie, apparently. No wonder she dumped Fletcher.

When Vile refused to move, she crossed her arms and clicked her tongue. "What? I know you're not afraid to hit a girl. You've done it before."

Again with the… _nothingness_.

"Alright," she said. "So I'm the aggressor this time am I? Fine with me."

And – from what Vile could see – she vanished. About a third of a second later, she was behind him, her fist covered in shadows and darting forwards. Then – from what _she_ could see – they had reversed positions and she was being sent across the room and straight into a wall. Her body twisted, and she went into the walls shoulder first. Something snapped. There was a crash, a bang, and blackness, then light exploded and she was on her feet again.

Keeping light on her feet, she ducked and dodged a few times, then gathered whatever pitiful shadows she could find and slammed them around. With her ring gone, she didn't have quite enough power to throw around as many shadows as she wanted, but nothing was stopping her from attacking without magic.

A snarl crossed her face as shadow-spears erupted from the darkness surrounding Lord Vile and hurled though the empty space around them. Darquesse, expecting a blow like that bent over backwards, her spine cracking in a few places as the spears went straight above her, slamming into the wall behind her and dissipating.

In her position, she smiled. Her hands reached back and she placed her palms on the floor, then she kicked off the floor, flipping over herself and landed on her feet, holding her arms to the side and bowing like a gymnast who had just finished their Olympic set.

"Tah-da!" she sang, and gave a flashy bow.

She couldn't see Vile's face, but she didn't think he was amused much.

"You're kidding, right? That was amazing! I could have won gold with that–"

He struck again, and this time she somersaulted closer and slammed her elbow against his chest plate, bending the supposedly unbendable metal. Her elbow broke, but seconds later it was fixed again.

"This could go on forever, couldn't it?" she asked. "Without my ring I can't kill you, but I know Skulduggery is hanging on in there somewhere telling you not to kill Valkyrie." A twisted smile played on her lips, and she hissed.

"I'm right, aren't I? You can't give yourself over to the darkness like I can. And that makes you weak. Consequently, that weakness is what will kill you."

Her hand snuck out while she was talking, and her fingers grasped one of the hinges of his armour. She knew he noticed – anyone would, but he didn't stop her. And a second later, her fingers bit into the metal and she ripped.

A screech, a tear, and the metal almost disintegrated in her grip. White bone poked out at her and with a small squeeze it shattered almost into dust.

Darquesse smiled as a scream ripped through the now silent room. A giggle escaped her lips, and she twirled away. Valkyrie had never been feminine, but she had been a child once, and that childish joy was rearing up again. Darquesse liked it.

All innocence was gone, of course. A mass-murderer could never be innocent. But nonetheless, she revelled in the unbridled joy that pain brought her the same way a child revelled in being given a new toy.

"Oh Vile," Darquesse breathed. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to be free like this. All I need is my ring. All you have to do is tell me where it is. Then I might wait until you've enjoyed my work before I kill you. Imagine that – your last view of the Earth will be of death and destruction – won't it be beautiful?"

A cough, a hacking sound, and Fletcher stirred, spitting out blood. "And what will you do when you're the only one left, huh?" he spat. "When the world becomes a barren wasteland and there's nothing to do?"

One look in his eye and Darquesse knew it was Azzalyth speaking. Fletcher had never had that much determination in him before.

"I'll find something," she whispered, before turning to him and slamming a boot into his chest. She heard the _crunch_ of bones and more blood came pouring out of his mouth. Darquesse laughed.

"This feeling," she whispered. "This amazing feeling. I've never felt anything like it. I've never felt so… _alive_."

Vile turned back to her right as she was about to give Fletcher the finishing blow. He threw a spear of shadows that caught Darquesse by the chest, throwing her back and slamming her into a wall, pinning her. Fletcher, on the ground, was wheezing, blood still trickling out of his mouth at a steady pace. Darquesse snarled.

"Let me down!" she snarled.

Vile shook his head.

She laughed a little, coughing up blood. "I know, I know. Not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening, right? Well then…" Darquesse reached up with both hands and grabbed the spear close to her chest and pushed, tearing it out of her and letting her fall to the ground.

She started thinking she was becoming an expert in using her healing powers by now. She stitched her heart back together and started it beating again, and seconds later she'd slammed a wave of power out, knocking Vile back, and by the looks of it, knocking him out.

* * *

><p>Fletcher's eyes were glued shut.<p>

Seriously, he physically _could not_ open them as much as he tried. From the smell of it, his eyelashes were stuck together with blood. He didn't know exactly, but he guessed it.

The warm feeling he had in his chest spiked up into a blaring area of red-hot agony. Something was broken, something else was snapped, and something else was probably ruptured. All comfort had fled him, and all he had left was the pain that was becoming him, and the warm little ball of _something_ at the back of his mind.

It was warm, but it wasn't red. It couldn't be that bad, right?

As he closed in on it, turning away from the darkness and the pain, he noticed it was a bright silver, crossed with fine black threads. He reached out his hands, formed a small cup and picked it up.

The first thing he noticed was the intense feeling of pure love radiating from it.

The next thing he noticed was the voice.

_No, Fletcher, don't you DARE die on me!_

The shouting wasn't good. He didn't like the shouting. It reminded him of the red. But try as he might, he couldn't let go of the small orb of light in front of him. The voice came back again, softer this time.

_Fletcher, do you know who I am?_

"You're an angel," he answered without hesitation.

There was a pause. _Not quite, baby. Far from it. Fletcher, I think you're in shock._

Fletcher frowned. "Shock? Really? You think so?"

There was choked laughter. _Honey, I know so. Fletcher, think. Where are you at the moment?_

A frown crossed his face. "I was in a room. I was doing something… Something important. I can't remember what it was. I think I was looking for something."

The orb seemed to be nodding to itself. _Yes. You were looking for something. You were looking for a girl, by the name of Azzalyth, weren't you? She was taken._

Fletcher nodded. "Yeah, that's it! I was looking for Azzalyth! I had her power and I was tracking her. But then something happened. I can't remember what exactly, but all of a sudden there was this pain…"

_Fletcher, honey. Listen to me. That power you had? That's what I am, all that's left. My body is dead, Fletcher. I'm dead._

Fletcher stopped. He thought. "You're lying. She's not dead. She can't be dead."

_Fletcher listen! My _body_ is dead! My consciousness is with you. If my body can get fixed I'll be in a coma until I get my consciousness back into my body. But I think my death may work to our advantage._

"_Advantage_!" Fletcher screamed. "What _advantage_? The woman I love is _dead_, and you're telling me there's an _advantage_?!"

_FLETCHER, SHUT UP. _The voice screamed right back. _My _body_ is dead. It can be fixed! But now, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me, Fletcher?_

The answer came back without hesitation. "Yes."

_Okay. Fletcher, for a moment you're going to have to let go. Can you do that? Close your eyes and let go._

A split second of hesitation and Fletcher did what he was told. The pain faded away, the red turned to black and the ball of light in his hands grew bigger and warmer until it was almost burning his hands. He screamed, but his voice had been drowned out and there was nothing left as the orb took over – and his eyes opened.

It took him a moment to realize what had happened. Azzalyth had taken over his body and was talking to Darquesse, but there was no energy in him to fight. She struggled, tried, did what she could, but for every millimetre his body moved, a significant amount of pain lanced through him and his energy drained.

And Darquesse struck again. Blood poured out and splattered on the floor. Fletcher could feel the orb of light vibrating with suppressed pain. From looking at it, Azzalyth was blocking the pain, taking it all herself, and Fletcher almost started to cry.

And as more of his blood poured out, he clung to the ball of light tighter and tighter until he was sure he was hurting it – but you couldn't hurt light, could you? There was some coughs, some spluttering gasps, and his body fell back down again, collapsed into a heap of exhaustion.

The orb started hyperventilating. _Fletcher, honey. There's one last thing I can try. I can't guarantee it will work, but if we don't take a chance, we'll all die. I'll ask you again – do you trust me?_

"Indefinitely."

_Okay. Fletcher, you need to let me go. Let go of the orb. Please._

"No!" he shouted. "I won't let you die!"

The voice was calming, quiet, soothing. _Fletcher, trust me. Let go of the orb. It's all going to be okay._

Fletcher, shaking with repressed sobs, conceded. "Okay," he said quietly. "But promise me you'll come back."

The voice seemed to be shaking her head sadly. _I'm not in the habit of making promises I'm not sure I can keep._

That did it. Fletcher started crying. Tears slicked down his face, dropping onto the orb. It grew, pulses, and started to blind him. It grew so hot his hands dropped it by a reflex and he yelped. As soon as he realized what he'd done, he lunged for it again, crying, screaming, but it was gone…

* * *

><p>Carma could feel something, even in unconsciousness. Something was tugging at her, calling her, beckoning her forwards.<p>

Inside her mind, a light appeared. It was silver and had black spider webs on it. She smiled. "Hello Azzalyth," she murmured, reaching out for it. Instead of a body like Fletcher, another light reached out, this one with clear, sparking webs over it. The web of the Diamond.

_Carma, listen to me. My body is dead and if we don't act now, I'll be gone for good._

Carma snapped to attention and listened.

_I have a plan. I don't know if it will work or not, but it's out only hope. We need Braelyn to be in on this too._

Carma nodded and they both reached out, pulling the silver orb with blue to them.

And while she still had a chance, Azzalyth explained all she could. Her ball started flickering and fading. She had nothing left to give by the end of the discussion, and with a small burst of power, Azzalyth forced the two girls into consciousness and left to enter Fletcher's body.

Carma could feel her limbs starting to prickle with feeling. Her eyes fluttered and shot open. She focused all the power she had left and directed it into an attack. Reason went out the door, she just followed Azzalyth's orders.

All she could think was: _Oh, Azzy, please be right about this. I can't die just yet._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't ask. Seriously. Don't.**

**Chapter, blah blah blah. Big fight, friends not friends, other friends better friends pissed off. Yeah. Typical teenage shit, am I right?**

**Basically Braelyn and I are no longer talking. I can't even look at her anymore without wanting to punch her in the face. Surprised I've lasted this long, actually.**

**So yeah.**

**But on a happier note - I'm finally writing again! YEAH!**

**Please, please, please, please, please review! You have no idea how much it means!**

**LOVE YOU, MY LOVELIES!**


	31. Counterattack

**Chapter 31. Counterattack**

Two bodies flew from prone and near-dead on the floor to upright and deadly. Darquesse had to admit it – she was shocked. The two smallest bodies in the room, the two little psychics, had bent their spines, twisted their bodies and vaulted upright in seconds. Darquesse flicked her hands up instinctively but didn't attack – she didn't have the time.

Carma attacked first.

Darquesse's mind was overrun with buffeting images. She expected horror, blood, gore, terror – after all, that was what a normal person would hate, wasn't it? She waited for the gore, would revel in it, would love it… But no. Carma wasn't that dumb.

Darquesse stared in horror at what was running through her mind. She shuddered, cringed, tried to get away, but it was everywhere…

_Pink. Fucking. Bunnies._

The sheer cuteness of it all wanted to make her gouge out her eyes. Soon enough the bunnies were joined with images of puppies, kittens, newborn children, flowers, and disgusting chalky heart lollies that were handed out on Valentine's Day.

She screamed. It was too much – the sheer adorableness of it made her gag and retch. Her hands clasped to her forehead and she squeezed. Soon enough her skull would break. She flailed around, trying to get away, then remembered what Azzalyth said almost as soon as they had met.

"_Carma's a mind reader, and can read minds around her for about three kilometres if she'd bother to concentrate for once in her life._"

There was no escape. She could run, but Carma would catch up. She flailed like a madwoman, lashed out and tried to figure out where she was, but all see was horror. Her hands hit something, but judging by the pain that lanced up her arms she could only assume it was inanimate.

She screamed again – she couldn't make out words. This was it, she was going to be sick. More bullshit floated around inside her head and she doubled over, heaving. Her body wracked with shudders and suddenly, disorientating-ly, the images stopped as quickly as they showed up. She lay gasping for a moment, her eyes clenched shut.

And then the voice started. The one that she couldn't stop listening to, the one that was soothing, calming, beautiful. Darquesse could lay there forever and listen to that voice… If she wasn't so busy destroying the world. She finished hyperventilating and pushed herself up, that eerie voice echoing around her… and all of a sudden she couldn't concentrate.

That voice had taken over her, consumed her… and there was no way to get away from it. All there was in the world was that voice, hauntingly peaceful, burying into her mind and upturning everything she knew.

She hissed, struggled, tried to throw it off, but she couldn't. She knew it was the curly haired bitch's fault, knew she was being manipulated, but she couldn't do anything about it.

And the anger started draining away.

It was slow – if Darquesse hadn't been so finely tuned to it she wouldn't have even noticed, but as she was, she felt it draining out of her, and as the hatred started fading, so did her power.

Darquesse lashed out with everything she had – and felt some give. She felt herself begin to come back into control, and the melodic voice that kept talking became strained, faster, stronger, trying to suppress the fury that was rising inside her.

"No!" Braelyn cried. "I'm losing her!"

"_What_?" Carma hissed incredibly. She sucked in a quick breath. "You've got to be joking."

"I'm not! She's too powerful – I can't keep this up for much longer. Something's going to–"

A blast of shadows exploded out of Darquesse and threw them back. Carma gasped as her head slammed into the wall and Braelyn lost her focus, her chant stopping and Darquesse shook off the last of the hypnosis.

She laughed, a coarse sound. "You though you could stop me?" she asked. "I've been building up my power for years – and you think that a few fifteen-year-old psychic bitches can stop me? You're so dumb I think it'd be worthless killing you."

Darquesse then summoned a thin strand of shadows and manipulated it out, hovering the icy darkness inches away from their necks. With a quick flick of her wrist they'd be dead… And Darquesse wouldn't have any opposition.

"Then again," she said. "I've always enjoyed spilling blood." She smiled coyly, and made that flick of her wrist.

* * *

><p>Carma felt it. She felt the cold tendril of darkness hovering above her, ready to kill. She felt the icy chill radiating from it, eager to spill her blood.<p>

Then she felt the heat of blood. She felt the contrast between the two – the cold darkness and the burning gush of blood as her throat was sliced open.

She felt the pain lance through her body, and she screamed. She'd assumed after the torture her brother had inflicted on her that she'd be able to deal with it – but torture wasn't something the human body became accustomed to. No matter how much it was subjected to, the nervous system would still react to a damaging movement, sending it to the brain and flaring through her flesh.

And the screams would always accompany that.

Vaguely, she heard another scream. _Braelyn_. That had to be it. Braelyn was getting the same thing she was.

She expected to feel the same way she had after Lucifer had plunged the Sadreopt blade through her heart. She expected everything to go cold and blank… She would welcome that feeling. Anything to get her out of the horror of what she was feeling.

Then she thought of Azzalyth. Azzalyth had trained her for this… She'd warned her of the dangers of coming to Ireland to meet the Sanctuary. Azzalyth had looked after her and Braelyn, always kept an eye and an ear on everything around them, on the lookout for anything.

Carma wondered just how often Azzy had saved them without then even knowing anything. She wondered if Azzy had even suspected that Lucifer was still alive, out to get them. The wondered if Azzy had suspected that the Sadreopt blade wasn't destroyed…

She wondered just how much Azzy had known, and if that was why she'd so strongly opposed them tagging along with her, flying halfway around the world and coming of some ridiculous quest. She knew that Azzy was the one that had all the details and knew exactly what was going on. She was the one that had told Carma and Braelyn that no-one should know the real reason they were there, and she came up with the cover story of ignorance to their history with Mevolent.

But then again, she'd never exactly told them why she had to go in the first place.

She was questioning the whole trip when the cold tore away from her throat and all that was left was a burning heat from her blood flowing down her skin.

Surprisingly, she didn't feel the nothingness tugging at her. She somehow managed to manoeuvre her arm and let her hand fall clumsily on her throat. She clamped down a little, trying to staunch the bleeding a bit. She cried out at the flare of pain that spiked up, and so her surprise she realized that the darkness hadn't dug in deep enough to cause a lethal wound.

And from the millimetre she'd managed to force her eyes open, she saw it.

The Angel of Death, come to take them all away.

Or that was what it looked like. It was probably a much more rational explanation, but everything was going fuzzy again, and for the _n_th time in God knew how long, she blacked out.

* * *

><p>Vile stood up.<p>

He was angry. Furious, actually. And he let it show.

Waves of darkness pulsed to from him in immense waves, forcing everyone in the room further into the ground, away from him. The sheer force of shadows that shrouded him blurred his form. Darquesse was gasping from the attack he'd smashed into her chest, devastating everything in her torso to a bloody pulp.

And one again, she just healed it.

That habit was becoming a pain in the ass.

And the fight between the two beings most likely to destroy the world ensued. Vile remained silent, Darquesse remain insulting, the creatures on the floor remained almost-dead.

He could feel Skulduggery in the back of his mind, telling Vile to hurry the hell up. He didn't want anyone dead – least of all Valkyrie. He wanted Vile to subdue her, maybe knock her out, and then get the hell out of there. The entire area stank of blood, death and decay, and thought Vile revelled in it, Skulduggery hated it. He just wanted out.

So Vile did as he was told. He attacked, but without the intent to kill. And she picked up on it.

"Oh, come on," she taunted. Again. "If you're not trying to kill me, I'm just going to keep on coming. You'll never defeat me."

So he got her through the heart with a dagger of darkness, and left it there.

There was screaming. From within him, and in front of him, and off in the distance somewhere.

Darquesse shuddered a few times. Her dark eyes rolled back up in her head, and while she was still breathing, Vile pulled the dagger out. She fell to the ground heavily, her body twitching, her breathing becoming shallower and shallower every time she exhaled.

And Skulduggery forced his way back into his own mind.

"No!" he screamed, rushing forwards without a second thought. His arms wrapped around her limp form, pulling her back into his chest, crying her name.

"Valkyrie!" he gasped. "Wake up! Oh, please, wake up! No, no, no, you can't die!"

Movement in the room around him.

Skulduggery raised his head slowly. If he'd had tear ducts, he'd have been blinded. The blood in the room was glowing dully in whatever meagre light was around. Six prone bodies, not including the one in his arms, were painted red and only one was beginning to move.

But Skulduggery was beyond caring. Valkyrie's breaths were getting worse, and the injury in her chest wasn't closing. She could sense her slipping away… and he broke down.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah. Chapter.**

**Enjoy.**

**I'm on holidays now, so hopefully I may hove some time - but I have work experience starting next week. I'm thinking of wrapping this story up soon - I may or may not do a sequel. I'll probably go write some of the next chapter - would you believe I've already started on the last one? Don't know what chapter it'll be, but yeah.**

**So enjoy, review, and I'll see you later. Maybe.**

**:P**


	32. Tormenting Saviours

**Chapter 32. Tormenting Saviours**

His broken, tearless sobs made something twinge in Ghastly's chest. He'd heard that kind of crying before. He'd cried like that before. When he realized Tanith was gone for good… He'd cried like that. The sobs of a broken man, once so strong and sure. It did something to the people that heard it, and it wasn't a good thing.

It made the observers pity them.

Now, Ghastly was never a man for pity. Mercy, sure. That was no problem. That was part of being a good guy. A quick death to those that deserved it, allowing those who had not wronged too badly to live and repent… Sure. That was fine.

But pity? Pity was a fickle emotion. It toyed with reason and destroyed all logical thought. That was why during the war, he'd been pitiless. Merciful, but pitiless. It allowed for clear thinking and reason. Not some bullshit about how sad or broken they looked.

And Skulduggery Pleasant, at that particular moment in time, was both sad and broken.

Ghastly couldn't think of anything to do to try and console his friend. He'd just lost his closest friend, his partner, and the one he loved more than anything. And he (or an evil spirit using his body) had done it. _He _had been the one that had shoved the dagger through Valkyrie's chest. _He_ had been the one that killed her.

Nothing was worse than that.

Ghastly, after almost crying those same, damaged sobs that his friend was, tore his eyes away from the heart wrenching moment and gazed around the room in a trance-like motion. His eyes scanned every corner, ready to detect any hint of danger…

But there was none.

Darquesse had been suppressed, and Lucifer was gone. The three psychics were out, as was Fletcher. Erskine was slumped against a wall.

And everything in the room was drying to a horrible dull red. The smell was starting to make Ghastly lightheaded.

And he bolted upright, suddenly alert. His head almost exploded at the sudden, unexpected movement, and after hissing in a small breath and clapping a hand to his face to squeeze his temples, he stopped breathing, looking and listening for any other sign of life in the room.

Braelyn and Carma were breathing. Erskine was having difficulty, but he was wheezing in oxygen too. He couldn't do much for Valkyrie, and Skulduggery seemed… well, not fine, but not dead at least, but Ghastly's heart almost stopped when he noticed Azzalyth and Fletcher.

No movement. No breaths. No bleeding.

Like everything had stopped.

Ghastly leant forwards, pressing his palms flat to the floor and tried to push himself to his feet, but failed miserably. Setting his jaw in grim determination, he leaned forwards, pushing with his legs and pulling with his muscular arms, dragging his weakened body across the bloody stone floor to the unmoving bodies. Azzalyth was still laid out like a sacrifice.

Her body seemed mutilated. Blood matted everything and stained her clothes an atrocious shade of red. All the skin that wasn't cut open, burned unbearably or covered in blood was black and blue, her normally warm, cheerful brown eyes blank, wide and staring into nothingness. His fingers probed at her now cold neck and wrist, finding nothing.

She was dead.

Ghastly choked back a gasp, and moved to Fletcher. Tears were now streaming freely down his face, and all he could do was let them. Trying to wipe them off would only smear more blood on him. All he could do when he got to Fletcher was the same… and he looked like he'd just taken on an army by himself.

His chest was caved in in some points, bones were broken everywhere, things were dislocated, blood was covering his body and face, and his eyes – Azzalyth's eyes – were just as dead as the ones on his girlfriend.

Again, no pulse.

All he could do was take them all to Nye and hope to high Heaven the monster could fix them. If he _would_, that was.

Ghastly turned around to find Skulduggery curled up, clutching Valkyrie to his chest like words themselves could bring her back to life.

He steeled himself for whatever shit storm was coming, but he had to move, and move _now_.

"Skulduggery?" he asked, almost timidly, moving to the man in question slowly. "Skulduggery, we have to get them all to Nye. Right now. Or none of them will make it."

Skulduggery didn't respond.

"Skulduggery," Ghastly proclaimed more firmly. "Get your head on straight. Nye may still be able to save her, and Azzalyth and Fletcher. But if we don't get them there _now_, they don't stand a chance."

The prospect of Valkyrie living fanned a fire inside of the weeping skeleton, and he stood in an instant, Valkyrie gathered carefully in his arms.

"Then what the fuck are we waiting for?"

Ghastly almost smiled in spite of the situation. "Right," he said.

Erskine roused quickly, and though he didn't look too good, but claimed he was able to carry one of the girls out.

"Take Braelyn," Ghastly instructed him. "I'll sling Carma over my back and I'll carry Azzalyth and Fletcher. I don't feel comfortable leaving them down here when we don't know what's happened to Lucifer."

Erskine nodded and, without complaint, lifted and unconscious Braelyn into his arms. Grunting a little at the pain in his body. As he said, Ghastly slung Carma over his back, and with some tricky manoeuvring, managed to get a hold of Fletcher and Azzalyth. When the three men had all their patients, they all looked at one another.

"Ready?" Ghastly asked.

"_Way_ ahead of you," Skulduggery called from the door.

* * *

><p>There was a problem the three had forgotten about as they reached the doors to the Sanctuary.<p>

The Cleavers.

"Oh, shit," Ghastly muttered as he saw the first one. It started to run towards him, but with a practiced movement, Skulduggery shot it through the heart.

"No more games," he demanded. "Anything that gets in my way _will_ fall."

And five minutes later, that statement was proven correct. As the three old Dead Men picked their way through grey bodies, any doubts that they'd make it to Nye's surgery were quickly cast aside. Skulduggery was on a mission, and there was nothing in the world that was going to stop him.

The last of the swarm of Cleavers fell to the ground with a heavy _thud_, and Skulduggery didn't even flinch as he stormed thought.

"Erskine," he grunted. "If you don't kill the Torment for this, I'll do it for you."

The man in question nodded, and frowned. "I'll take care of him, don't you worry about it. He'll wish he never met me."

Ghastly grimaced. "Save some for me, okay, Ravel? It sounds like fun."

"You got it," he muttered.

They made it into the Sanctuary, but no further when they were intercepted by the Child of the Spider himself. The Torment glared at them haughtily, as if daring them to come any closer.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he chimed, his scratchy voice grating against the men's ears. "Three little flies, caught in a spiders web? How did I know?" A gruesome smile flashed across his face. "And now the spider has come to suck you dry."

"I don't have time for this," Skulduggery growled, raising his gun again. A quick squeeze of his finger, and it would all be done and over with.

So he squeezed.

_Click_.

If Skulduggery had a face, he'd have been frowning.

He squeezed again.

_Click._

And again.

_Click._

_Click._

_Click._

"Fuck," he hissed. "Out of bullets."

Erskine stood up straight. "I'll handle this," he told them, stalking forwards with and unconscious elf in his arms. "Skulduggery, take Braelyn and make sure the two of you get down to Nye's office as fast as you can."

Skulduggery nodded while Erskine slung Braelyn over Skulduggery's shoulder. Her even breathing was a bit shallow, but at least it was constant. Carma, however, had more irregular breathing, and Ghastly was getting worried. If she stopped breathing, he might just have a heart attack.

"Go," Erskine urged them. "They won't last much longer."

They didn't have to be told twice. Seconds later they'd turned on their heels and taken off, leaving the Grand Mage facing off against the Torment.

"You're such and idiot, Ravel," the Torment hissed. "You're weak, injured and exhausted. You'll never defeat me, and you know it."

Erskine steadied himself with a breath, and dropped to a more stable stance. "Don't you _dare_," he hissed right back, "tell _me_ what _I_ think." With a click of his fingers, fire was summoned to his right hand, and with a quick movement of his left, he called air.

The Torment hissed away from the heat of the flame, causing Erskine to move forward with a grim expression. "I thought you were past this, honestly," he said. "Past all the petty fights against the Sanctuary, but now that you've gone and committed out-and-out treason, I don't feel like putting up with your frankly annoying presence anymore."

And he attacked. Not bothering for a long, drawn out speech or anything, or warnings, or begging for the spider to change his mind. It was a fight, not a victory speech.

That came later. And anyone could bet he had one stored away, perfect for this moment.

And shit yeah, he was gonna use it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Do you love me enough to forgive me, my beautiful readers?**

**Of course you do. I'm awesome.**

**But anyway, I'm about six weeks in to my eight-week long Christmas holiday, and a full half of that time has been spent doing work experience at two different vet clinics, then more of it was sleeping (I've been sleeping a lot lately), and I've been reading FanFic and some manga's I found online like a maniac. Not to mention the stack of books I got for Christmas. And I've been watching Bones and stuff - I got a 3 terabyte hard drive for Christmas, so now I can empty my 1 terabyte hard drive and get more stuff! Yay!**

**And yeah. I'm starting grade 12 (my last year of school! Thank fuck!) at the end of January, then I've got to apply for work at vet stuff and organize Tertiary study and shit. I've got it all planned out. I just hope it works.**

**But anyway, my lovelies, enough of my bullshit, how is you life going?**

**Oh yeah, chapter. I did most of this last night from about 10:30 to midnight, then the last little bit this morning. It's about quarter to ten now, and i feel like breakfast. So enjoy the chapter and I'm going to go eat.**

**REVIEW, MY DARLINGS! PLEASE!**


	33. Victory Speech

**Chapter 33. Victory Speech**

"_You see," Erskine told him, "you were never going to win. Spiders aren't known for their fighting skills. I mean, sure, they're fast, and hard to hit, and poisonous, and freaky, and all gross, but seriously, do you know how hard it is to just crush one under your foot?"_

Erskine dodged, rolled, twisted… whatever he could. But Gods, that bastard was hard to hit. And those fucking _spiders_… They came from _everywhere_. Erskine saw some crawling out of areas he'd rather not imagine.

And _come on_… An endless supply? Really?

How clichéd.

But nevertheless, Erskine knew the spiders' weakness. Fire. Well, it was most spiders' weakness, so he was just guessing, but hey, a guess is better than nothing in life-or-death situations.

They're better than the alternative, anyway.

So he guessed. Following his gut, he clicked his fingers and threw the golden flames all around. The little spiders scattered back from the immense heat, and with a clear opening, Erskine charged forwards.

"_In all honesty, you should have been a butterfly. Do you know how hard those bastards are to catch? But then again, I guess you _did_ have an image to uphold. And you wouldn't be _nearly_ as intimidating if you were all colourful and had wings sprouting out of your back, would you?"_

He almost had the traitor…

And more spiders came out of nowhere and latched onto his face.

Erskine screamed.

It was a good scream. Came right from the belly, it did. Let everyone know who it was screaming. And it was the right sort of scream, too. Full of terror, and pain, and shock. It actually sounded pretty cool.

Perfect backing sound to one of those stupid mortal 'death metal' songs, or whatever they were called. All in all, it was an entertaining idea. He'd have to see if he could replicate it later and sell it to some bastard and make money off it.

If he survived, that was.

"_You know, you almost had me for a while there. I know, shocking, isn't it? I was shocked. I mean, a Child of the Spider overcoming an Elemental? You had to be kidding. But I sure showed you, didn't I?"_

Erskine summoned fire again, and the spiders scattered again. Nothing new. _So_, he thought. _If I can just catch him off guard…_

A quick movement and he'd done just that. He blew on the flame cupped in his palm, and fire erupted in a flamethrower, pinpointing the little suckers that fizzled and sizzled in the heat. He blew a bit harder and the flame swelled, turning the walls black and radiating heat through the room.

He raised his head, smiling despite the oppressive heat and threw his arms wide, letting a huge wave of scarlet flame wash over everything in his path. He heard a sizzling sound, some 'pops' of mini-explosions as the little spiders burst in the heat, and a piercing shriek – like metal tearing or nails on a blackboard. He winced – he'd have to get new eardrums by the end of this fight – and stumbled back a bit towards the fire behind him.

He blew slightly and the fire died down a little, letting Erskine see what was going on around him. Tiny charred black dots littered the floor, and the Torment was cowering in the corner. A smile tugged at Erskine's lips and he stalked forwards.

He wasn't expecting what he saw.

The Torment was crying.

Tears fell down his cheeks in abandon and he did a double-take. Since when did spiders cry? The Torment was muttering something incomprehensible and Erskine strained to make out words. Something about babies, fire and death.

What, baby spiders? Yeah. They burned to death. Erskine knew that.

"_You seemed a bit pitiful there, you know. Just kneeling there and crying. It was like you'd just lost your first-born son or something equally as weird. I mean, losing a first-born son is heart-wrenching, but spiders? They die all the time. Something comes and picks them off – birds, snakes, reptiles. Even people and mages. It's what we do. Not many people like spiders, if you haven't noticed. But still – pitiful."_

The Torment looked back up at him and howled. Like a dog.

Like a freaking dog.

Erskine laughed. He couldn't help it – he just burst into a fit of hilarity that he couldn't stop. He laughed until his sides hurt and tears ran down his cheeks, and even then he couldn't stop shaking so hard he looked like he'd been wired to an electric fence.

And the spiders attacked him again.

So he burnt them.

Again.

Every time the Torment would send in another wave of spiders, Erskine would burn them. He could see the amount of energy the Torment was expending, and Erskine knew he couldn't keep it up for much longer, so he just let the Torment let it all out.

Then the Torment collapsed into a still heap, and Erskine crouched next to it.

"_If I'm honest, that fight wasn't nearly as hard as I'd hoped. Honestly, I expected more from you, but all you do is let me down, you know that? I honestly wanted to get riled up and motivated. I've been almost-killed worse. Even that stupid mortal boy was harder to fight than you."_

_Erskine stood up after he'd finished his speech and held his hand out, flame engulfing him up to his elbow. He pressed his hand to the Torment's face and with a scream, the Torment died._

"_Good riddance," Erskine told the dead body on the floor._

* * *

><p>Skulduggery and Ghastly practically flew through the corridors despite the weight they were carrying. They got closer and closer to Nye's door, taking down dozens of Cleavers and anyone else that got in their way.<p>

Skulduggery crashed his fist on the door, damn near breaking his hand as she started shouting "NYE! NYE, YOU GODFORSAKEN CREATURE, OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

There was no sound from inside and Skulduggery was about to blow the damn door off its hinges. Ghastly knocked a little more politely, and while Skuldggery summoned his magic the door opened and the Nye stuck it's head out, obviously displeased with the commotion.

"What do you want?" it hissed.

Skulduggery moved into the door, holding Valkyrie in his arms. "Heal her."

"Could you not be a bit more polite?"

"Heal her _now_."

The Nye pursed it's scarred lips and obviously sensed the black atmosphere that shrouded him, because it nodded sharply and moved aside, allowing him entry to the small clinic.

"_Now,_ Nye!" Skulduggery snapped, placing Valkyrie gently on the operating table.

The Nye gave a quick look over her, determining exactly what had happened and started the treatment. His beady eyes flicked to Skulduggery every few minutes, obviously suspicious, but he had no time to try and decipher what it was that was so ominous about him. He had a patient.

Ghastly called across the surgery, calling for Skulduggery to help him lower the others onto their own beds.

After a few minutes of swearing, some threats, and some reassurance, Skulduggery stalked away from Valkyrie's side to help Ghastly with his mound of bodies, making sure that Azzalyth and Fletcher were side by side and Carma and Braelyn were close by their mentor.

Not much later Erskine stumbled in, the smell of fire and death cloaking him, his clothes singed and spider legs clinging to his blood-soaked shirt. Ghastly immediately went to his aid, holding him up and helping him to a spare bed while Skulduggery stubbornly refused to leave Valkyrie's side.

* * *

><p>An hour later, Nye wiped the blood from his hands sloppily, stood straight and mumbled something about letting Valkyrie rest, then added something about her being fine in a few days.<p>

He looked around and gasped as he saw a familiar bulk on one of the far tables, her entire body drenched in a dark, sickly red.

"What happened?" he asked a barely-conscious Erskine.

"Lucifer got her. She's dead."

The Nye froze.

No.

Not her.

She couldn't be.

He wouldn't let her be.

"Nye," Ghastly told him, "you have to save her friends first. They're still alive – if you save her and let them die she'll never even look at you again, and you know it."

Nye felt like crying.

It was a preposterous thought, but it was a thought nonetheless, and he was pretty sure Ghastly was right. In the time he'd gotten to know her he knew just how much she cared for those two tiny girls next to her, and he nodded.

He went to work.

* * *

><p>By the end of the night, Carma and Braelyn were awake but weak, unable to stand but able to look around. They started crying almost as soon as they woke up. Fletcher and Valkyrie were alive but unconscious and Nye was sure that they would make a full recovery, as would everyone else.<p>

But he was still working on Azzalyth. To prevent any distractions – which he would _not_ tolerate – he took her into the back room with his supplies all within easy access and where he would be sure he would not make any mistakes.

But there was still no word on her condition.

When he had left the main surgery, Azzalyth still didn't have a heartbeat, and everyone was getting worried. Carma and Braelyn said they couldn't sense any of her power – either from her body or Fletcher's. Ghastly pried one of Fletcher's eyes open after Nye restarted his heart, and to his – and everyone else's – shock, he found that Fletcher's eyes were their regular blue again. There was no hint that he had ever taken on Azzalyth's power.

Carma said that when he died, her power had died with him, dissipated into the form that only they could see. She told them that as Azzalyth had been unable to have a daughter to inherit the Onyx, there was a chance that the power would eventually turn into nothing, ceasing to exist. That the onyx on the dagger would lose its shine and its power and possibly even crumble into dust.

The melancholy mood that shrouded the room wasn't going anywhere.

Late into the night, Nye came out of the back room.

His face was wet.

He'd been crying.

He explained to them that he could get her heart restarted, but since her psychic powers had gone there was nothing to sustain it, and he didn't think that she'd ever wake up.

Everyone's heart broke.

Fletcher's heart broke the hardest.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I have no excuse. Even if you fall to your knees in the rain with your hands out in front of you screaming "WHYYYY?!" I will be unable to find you an excuse for the months I've been absent.**

**To be honest, I'm not sure how I'm going to keep writing this story anymore. I've run out of ideas for it, and quite frankly I'm running out of time. I'm grade 12, final year of high school, and have just barely survived my first lot of exams.**

**We started this term a week late because our town has just been through the worst floods in recorded history. I'm not kidding. Houses were literally picked up off their foundations and found kilometers down the road. People have had their lives ruined. People died, lost their houses, pets, cars, insurance, jobs... anything you can think of. I was lucky. My parents built our house up high on a hill, but we still had no power for two and a half weeks.**

**During that time I FINALLY read Kingdom of the Wicked. I didn't like it as much as I liked the other ones.**

**My school was used as an evacuation centre for people who had lost everything - and when the water kept rising, they were then evacuated to another school, and then AGAIN to the Agro Trend Grounds on the other side of town. Every helicopter in the state (and some from other states) were brought in to airlift people from their houses and to bring in supplies as we were cut off for the better part of a month.**

**And that's just the beginning of it.**

**I won't bore you all with the rest of it. But if I'm honest, I think there may just be one more chapter in this FanFic - one more to wrap things up. Dunno if I'm going to write a sequel. If people have ideas I'm happy to listen - maybe if I get some I'll write another one.**

**Anyway, I've recently watched six and a half seasons of _Doctor Who_ in six weeks, all of _Sherlock_ over a weekend, and various other things. That may help explain the lack of updates.**

**But this will probably be the second last for this story :) However, if I don't get enough reviews on this story I may not even bother with the final, and you can all go and sulk and live with the cliffhanger.**

**So review, get friends to review, whetever you have to. Please, guys, for me? *Puppy dog eyes***

**Love you all, my amazing readers :-***

**VIRTUAL COOKIES FOR ALL.**

**But no for Carma. She can deal with cornflakes.**


	34. Round Trip

**Chapter 34. Round Trip**

* * *

><p><em>They all piled in around the airport, an hour before boarding. The lively city bustled around, and the small group got given many strange stares. A tall skinny man was there, with a blonde-haired man that was looking around for someone anxiously. Two young girls were there too, wrapped in bandages, but clean and smiling.<em>

_And there were a few other people scattered around too, all bidding farewell to the two bandaged girls._

"_We'll miss you," the tall man said._

"_Come visit again," said another man, this one a bit bulkier – a boxer, maybe?_

"_Where is she?" whined the blonde man._

"_She'll be here soon," said a tall, dark young woman._

_The two bandaged girls shared a_ look.

* * *

><p>There were tears and smiles all around the little doctor's surgery.<p>

"See?" a girl asked. "Told you it was a good movie."

The credits started rolling, and the music was childish, a little playful.

"_The Hunchback of Notre Dame_ has always been one of my favourite classics," the robust, brunette teen said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," sniffed the creature next to her. The old stitches on its face pulled a bit, and it dabbed at where its nose would have been. "I see why."

The girl reached forwards and gave the beast a tight hug, before catching sight of a clock on the wall.

"Shit!" she gasped. "I'm going to miss my flight!"

* * *

><p>"<em>This is nuts," said a curly-haired teenager. "She's never been this late before. I don't want to miss this flight."<em>

"_Yeah," agreed a copper-haired elf. Well, she looked like an elf._

"_I'm sure it's nothing," said a handsome man._

"_Yes, I agree with Erskine," the tall man said. "Now shut up, you're agitating the porcupine."_

_The blonde man made an incoherent noise of protest, and everyone laughed._

* * *

><p>The robust girl sprinted through the gates of the airport, ducking around people, rushing the security check and barely avoiding knocking into an elderly couple that were walking away from the arrival bay. She apologized in a rush, leaping over their luggage and vaulting back off the chair she had landed on.<p>

Security ended up losing sight of her in the crowd, her movements too quick to follow.

* * *

><p>"<em>Are you sure?" the blonde man asked. "I mean, she could be stuck somewhere. Should I go look for her?"<em>

_The copper-haired girl laughed. "You worry too much. She's going to be fine."_

_The blonde youth scowled. "You know, I could have taken you all home anyway. You didn't need to fly."_

_The curly haired, bandaged girl sighed. "We've been over this. We didn't exactly think we'd be meeting a Teleporter, now did we? We bought return flights when we got our tickets."_

"_Refund?" he asked._

_The girls glared. "No dice," the told him in unison._

* * *

><p>The brunette girl's hair flicked around her face as she looked around. Her breathing was a little shallow and she made herself taller by creeping up on her toes to try and find her terminal.<p>

"Excuse me," she asked, turning around to speak to the woman next to her, "I think I'm lost." She gave her most innocent (innocent? Since when had she been _innocent_?) smile and the lady gave her a reassuring look before pointing her in the right direction.

"Thank you," she murmured, before turning around and sprinting off.

She might make it after all.

Might.

* * *

><p>"<em>That's it, I'm going to look for her."<em>

"_You stay right here, Blondie!" the elf snapped. "For God's sake, would you just trust us for once? We're the ones who saved your ass, in case you didn't know. We know what we're doing."_

_The tall, thin man laughed. "You guys always know what to say, don't you?"_

_The curly-haired brunette shrugged. "We do try."_

_The elf laughed. "I don't even need to try anymore. I just know," she told them, tapping a pale finger to her temple._

* * *

><p>Ah, there they were! She could see them through the crowd – or she could see one of them, which would mean the others were around as well. Slipping through the crowd as unnoticed as she could be, she skirted around until she was behind them and started closing in.<p>

The elf was tapping at her temple, so the robust girl grinned and crept forwards, making no sound until she reached forwards, wrapping her arms around the blonde man's waist and pressing her cheek to his back.

"Why so worried?" she asked. "It's not like I'm dead."

There was a cry of delight and he turned in her grip, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Azzalyth! I missed you!"

"Of course you did," she laughed. "You haven't seen me in what – an hour?"

"Fifty-two minutes and thirty-seven seconds, but who's counting?"

All of a sudden their little reunion was interrupted by what seemed to be another eighty sets of hands reaching for her and trying to pull her to them. There were some cheers, some tears, and some chants of her name, and she just smiled and gave them all a hug in turn.

"Don't you _ever_ put me through that again," Valkyrie told her sternly. "I was about to knock Fletcher out. I can't believe you can stand his constant _whining_."

"Well," Azzalyth told her, "he doesn't whine around me, so I think I'm good."

"Lucky," she muttered, before stepping back and letting Skulduggery wrap his arms around her, an action which Fletcher soon mirrored.

"Actually, girls, I have a few questions," Skulduggery informed them. "First – why on Earth was Braelyn dripping wet when we first met?"

There was a chorus of laughs at that. "Well," Carma started. "If you put a toddler in front of a mud puddle, they're going to play in it right?"

"Mud puddle?" Ghastly asked.

"Long story short – don't trust Braelyn around a water fountain."

Braelyn gave them the most childish grin she could conjure, and more laughs followed. They were all so happy to finally be back together again, to finally have their little group reunited, they wanted to laugh and smile as much as they could while they still had the chance.

"What was the second question?" Carma asked.

"Why the hell were you trying to make a _psychic connection_ with my _car_?"

"What, haven't you heard of Herbie?"

* * *

><p>Finally, the time had come. Their flight was boarding, and the girls were finally off home again.<p>

"It's a pity we couldn't catch Lucifer," Azzalyth lamented. "I would have liked to rip him a new one."

"We've got the Sanctuary working on that," Erskine assured her, "and when we catch him we'll get in touch so you can some back and beat the shit out of him."

She smiled. "Thanks."

There was a bit of an awkward silence.

"Well," Ghastly said, "I suppose this is goodbye."

"I suppose it is."

More silence.

Fletcher was the first to move. He rushed forwards and wrapped his arms tightly around Azzalyth, pulling her in for a firm kiss. Ghastly pulled Braelyn and Carma into a hug, and soon enough there were tears scattered here and there, and smiles laces with sadness.

"You'll come visit me, yeah?" Azzalyth, voice thick and breaking, asked Fletcher, whose only reply was another kiss and to tenderly wipe away some tears with his thumbs.

"You'll all come visit, okay? That's an order," Carma demanded to the lot of them, which was met with a round of "Yes"-es and "Of course"-es and "Wouldn't miss it for the world"-s.

With a few precious seconds to go before departure, they all gathered into one final group hug before the three Australian girls, who had powers beyond belief, who had dragged them on chases through city streets and forests, who had almost helped them catch the most twisted killer on the planet, turned to board their plane.

They didn't look back.

After all, it wasn't the end. Just a break between serial killers.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't complain. I wasn't even going to update this, but then I got another follower, so I figured, "Why not give them something to follow?"**

**But this is it. No more. Unless you all beg me to write a sequel - but then you have to give me the ideas and be expecting weeks - if not months - between updates. I'm not gonna sugar-coat it - I'm shit when it comes to updating stuff.**

**And I'm tired.**

**But my parents just bought me a car.**

**So yeah. Happy/tired.**

**I would like to say a most massive "Thank you" to all my reviewers, favouriters, and followers. You honestly are all the only reason I kept writing, and the only reason this thing is even finished.**

**So thank you. You have no idea how awesome you all are.**

**And no. I will not tell you how Azzalyth lived. Maybe in a sequel. Possibly. But I will not tell you. EVER.**

**I can't say "Until next time", so I'm just gonna say "I love you" and go.**

**Nighty night, dearies.**


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